Birding, Victorian-style!
We birders often get a bad press. We’re accused of being insensitive to our surroundings when we’re in pursuit of a good bird by descending en mass to the area and annoying the locals as we block roads, pavements and paths, and trample willy-nilly on private property in our bid to get a view of the bird. And we are sometimes accused of being equally insensitive to the bird itself, harrying it and creeping ever closer and closer in a bid to get an even better view of the bird we’ve come to see. And some of these accusations may be justified. It’s the usual case of the few spoiling it for the many, as most birders do behave well, respecting the locals, their environment and the bird itself. But perhaps this issue of large numbers of people unwittingly causing environmental damage through misguided enthusiasm may have a long history. In Stephen Moss’s book ‘A Bird in the Bush’, we were intrigued to read about the popularity of natural history societies in the Victorian era. These societies, popular with the middle classes with their newly discovered ‘leisure time’, attracted hundreds of members to the meetings and they also organised excursions to various ‘wild’ areas to experience nature first-hand. One such group, based in Liverpool, apparently put together one particular outing to North Wales that was attended by 350 participants! Just imagine that number of people descending on one area in bonnets, bustles and boaters, all trying to appreciate the wildlife. To make matters worse, there were apparently prizes offered for the best bouquet of wild flowers gathered on the excursion!As a Victorian tourist resort with both a railway line and a steamer service to the pier, we’re sure that Llandudno must have been their destination. They must have wandered on the pier admiring the view, and explored the dramatic nooks and crannies of the Great Orme, looking for birds and merrily picking bouquets. Perhaps that would explain why it can be hard to catch a glimpse of many birds or wild flowers up there today?!