I have written
about local patch watching on several occasions, most notably ....
Noticing nature is the greatest gift you can get from lockdown
Lockdown, local patches, wildlife and photography
In fact, as the header and
title above describe .... "This blog was
set up in mid-March 2020 during the COVID-19 health crisis in the UK and around
the rest of the world. It aims to provide records of wildlife sightings and
photographs from sites within walking distance of my home in the SS15 postcode
area of Basildon in Essex together with a few personal thoughts and reflections
during this difficult and challenging time."
Many wildlife watchers, and
birders in particular, have had a local patch for many years and the travel restrictions
imposed by 3 lockdowns have undoubtedly added many more.
However, I wonder how many
people have heard of Gilbert White.
Who is Gilbert White? .... Reverend Gilbert White (18th July 1720 to 26th June 1793) was a pioneering English naturalist, ecologist and ornithologist.
Gilbert White spent most of his life in the small village of Selborne in Hampshire. He was not a trained scientist but he was very curious about the world around him. It is that curiosity, and what he did about it, that resulted in him being a key inspiration to many naturalists who have followed in his footsteps. His work transformed the way we look at the natural world. His lifelong love and talent for observing and recording nature influenced Charles Darwin, among many others. He is best known for his “Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne”.
"Gilbert White’s book, more than any other, has
shaped our everyday view of the relations between humans and nature."
- Richard Mabey - naturalist and biographer of Gilbert
White
The book “Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne”, compiled of letters written by Gilbert White to fellow
naturalists Thomas Pennant and Daines Barrington, is reputed to be, after the
Bible, Shakespeare and Pilgrim’s Progress, the most published book in the
English language. It was published in 1789 and since then has never been out of
print. It has been translated into numerous other languages, including a German
version as early as 1794.
Gilbert White is widely regarded as the father of
ecology and he is a globally significant natural scientist. He was responsible
for a number of major discoveries in the world of natural history. For example,
he was the first to identify the Harvest Mouse in the UK, he correctly realised
that the species of bird known as a “Willow Wren” was in fact 3 separate
species (the Willow Warbler, the Chiffchaff and the Wood Warbler), he
discovered the Noctule Bat, he noticed that Tawny Owls hooted in B flat and he gained insights
into the migration of Swallows, House Martins and Swifts. He even observed
the hibernation routines of his pet tortoise Timothy, purely for the joy of
understanding them.
However, it is not for these discoveries that Gilbert White is judged to be the forerunner of all modern natural historians. He is famous because of his method. In an age without cameras and tape recorders, he correctly identified the “Willow Wrens” as separate species by their songs and by minute differences in their plumage. He did this through observation, what he called “observing narrowly”, and then carefully recording what he saw. Whereas other natural historians of the 18th century received information from all over the country, Gilbert White closely observed nature in one patch of country, namely in Selborne in Hampshire. His scientific fame rests on his minute observation of all nature in his garden, on his walks and his rides in the countryside.
Modern natural historians acknowledge the place of Gilbert White
in the heritage of natural history. Simon Barnes, in The Times on 1st June 2013
wrote: “The book is about taking small things and understanding their place
across the immensities of space and time. He was able to take a small localised
matter and see its eternal significance. He saw his little chunk of Hampshire
as a single living entity; not in any mystical sense.”
Gilbert White was undoubtedly the father of local patch watching.
We must aim to notice more: the sights, sounds, smells and other signs of nature in our local areas.
By noticing, we care.
By caring, we can begin to act to reverse the climate and nature emergency that is engulfing our world.
We all need to be a bit more Gilbert.
On Gilbert
White’s death, an anonymous memorial to him was
published in the Gentleman's Magazine on the 11th July 1793: “A sigh escapes
me on the demise of that most excellent man, accurate historian, diligent
naturalist, and elegant writer, the Rev Gilbert White.”
Last
year was the 300th anniversary of Gilbert White’s birth and I had intended
to visit Gilbert White's house and museum but the Covid-19 pandemic ended that plan.
Hopefully, later this year, I may be able to plan a visit.
In
the meantime, this excellent video from Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s CEO, Mike
Pratt, explains why Gilbert White is such an inspiration today, particularly in
the context of the current Covid-19 pandemic.
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