Cooling Marshes, Kent, 7th December 2014

Thursday 13 September 2012

Excerpts from 'A Norfolk Diary, 1911'


“August 16th - Saw the 3 young Montagus near Blackfleet on my way to Horsey. They have shorter tails than the old bird, and look the colour of a Marsh Harrier...”

This diary excerpt comes from 'A Season of Birds' and what has to be the best charity shop find ever by my friend Joanne. We've been pouring over it for months so I thought I'd put something on here about it.

I would've paid £1.99 for the Wheatear cover alone

This beautiful book recounts, in diary form, the daily wildlife sightings of a Norfolk estate keeper called Jim Vincent as he tended to the Hickling Broad estate in 1911. Hickling Broad is a name no doubt familiar to many bird lovers and nature enthusiasts as one Norfolk's 'must visit' locations and it's amazing to read this insight into what rural life was like in the area during the early part of the century. According to the book, Jim Vincent was employed by a wealthy landowner, the Hon. Edwin Montagu (good name!) who was a keen shooter on the broads (he also went on to become a minister in Herbert Asquith’s government). Jim, an excellent local naturalist, was employed to keep the estate in good condition (thus ensuring waterfowl for shoots) and through this relationship, Montagu developed a wider interest in the birds of the area and ultimately in the conservation of the broads. He was evidently inspired by Vincent’s knowledge and enthusiasm enough to pursue publication of his diary of sightings in 1911.

Vincent's daily entries are generally brief recollections of the birds he saw that day but even in this, there is value as he provides a first hand account of bird species and numbers in the area over a hundred years ago. Although Hickling remains relatively untouched (it's a Norfolk Wildlife Trust reserve now) so much has changed across the countryside since then that it's hard not to be fascinated. 

"21st September - flushed 2 corn crakes and a spotted crake. A corn crake was bought to me by a man who thought it ‘an uncommon bird’"

Of all the birds he recorded in his diary though, the one that really struck me as being a signifier of such change and one which receives almost daily updates (during the season) is Montagu's Harrier

"9th May - have seen today an old male Montagu and female. These may be the pair that bred last year, as the male was not in good plumage and would have improved in plumage this year, but of this it is difficult to prove"

This is Jim's first record in the diary of the bird and he reveals that Montagu's were present in the area the previous year. Infact, 1910 marked the first year the birds had nested in Norfolk, after last being sighted in 1887. He goes on to report as many as seven pairs in the area that year - that's amazing to think isn't it?! His diary also recalls some of the lengths gone to to ensure breeding success for the birds, including raising a nest as floods threatened one of the areas and placing 'watchers' at certain points. He was obviously well aware of the conflict of interests birds like it bring.

"13th june – saw a black tern (good bird) on hickling broad. Saw 9 geese flying away w. About 20 yards high. they looked like Egyptians. These often occur in the summer months. No doubt escaped birds from somewhere. Have seen nothing whatever of the male montagu and have great fears he is dead"

"8th August - Lowne of Yarmoth (taxidermist) showed me a male montagu received from Martham, that was shot and sent to him. It is no doubt the missing male from Backfleet, as he has been missing the last few days, and corresponds with him in plumage."

Montagu's Harriers, which are named after a 19th Century naturalist called George Montagu, are very rare breeders in the UK now, with only a handful of pairs recorded loosley around southern England/Midlands, and have suffered in the last century through persecution and habitat loss. After reading this book, I saw this article from the RSPB appealing for information about Montagu's Harriers in Eastern England, it came about after a pair of Montagu's failed to return to their nest site in Norfolk in 2012. While the pair may have simply relocated elsewhere, it is sad how such a stunning bird has become so hard to find now.

The stunning illustrations in the book were done by an eminent conservationist and bird artist of the time - G.E Lodge. They are incredibly rendered and keenly observed from real life sketches showing each bird in its natural habitat. Here: Curlew Sandpiper (top) and Sandwich Tern (bottom) both recorded at Hickling Broad in 1911.

As well as Monties, the diary describes all manner of bird life around Hickling Broad across the year including Bitterns and Cuckoos. On 22nd June, the day of King George V's coronation, he reports: "saw a swift on Hickling Broad when crossing over to the village for coronation festivities, with a piece of red tape tied to its leg". Is it possible this bird could be an early ringed individual?

"20th December - calm in morning, gale sprung up from w. Raining all day. Saw the female Hen-harrier near Lodge. There were quite 600 Pochard upon Horsey today, also 2 adult Goldeneyes in company with dozen immature, several tufted ducks and a small grebe, which judging by its size might be an Eared (Black-necked) Grebe. There were hundreds of Peewits in the marshes, which i noticed some two hours before the gale went up to a great height and appeared as mere specks wheeling about into all fantastic shapes."

I wonder what Jim Vincent would make of the changes in bird populations today? A hundred years on from writing his diary would he be shocked at the changes in agricultural practices...and the ongoing desperate fight to protect birds of prey from illegal persecution? This diary is an important document of the natural history of a significant time and place. 

Montagu’s Harrier (female). Like all birds of prey, the female is larger than the male. The nest is composed of rushes, sedge or coarse grasses lined with finer materials, made on an open piece of ground surrounded by high vegetation. 


"It must be remembered that birds are not just passing migrants who suddenly decide to drop in for a season; they are reconnaissance experts who stay and continue to visit annually only when the habitat is to their liking" - Jim Vincent



Many thanks to Jo Mildenhall (the Kemsing birder) who is Norfolk-bound herself. All quotes and images from the book used with best intentions. I hope I did them justice.








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