Theodore Roosevelt in praise of the English blackbird.

We are in the bleak mid-winter, but on my daily wanderings along the byways and hedgerows of this corner of South Somerset I have noticed a goodly number of blackbirds.  They are obviously not singing yet, but the warmer months should see them break into their wonderful song.

I was reminded of Theodore Roosevelt’s delightful tribute to the English blackbird in his autobiography.  I quote from it below.

In 1910 the former American president, having spent several weeks in England, was due to sail home from Southampton on June 10.  Being a lover of birds and birdsong he managed to arrange a day of birdwatching in Hampshire the day before his departure.

Roosevelt travelled by train to Basingstoke accompanied by his friend Sir Edward Grey, the British Foreign Secretary.  With Sir Edward acting as guide the two avid ornithologists drove to the valley of the River Itchen to view the birdlife of the area and listen to its birdsong.

Having walked for several hours in the area Roosevelt described the valley as follows: “It is very beautiful in every way, with a rich, civilised, fertile beauty – the rapid brook twisting among its reed beds, the rich green of trees and grass, the stately woods, the gardens and fields, the exceedingly picturesque cottages, the great handsome houses standing in their parks.  Birds were plentiful; I know but few places in America where one would see such an abundance of individuals . . . “.

The two men then drove to the New Forest where they had tea at an inn before tramping on through the forest to Brockenhurst.

Roosevelt wrote of his tramp: “The New Forest is a wild, uninhabited stretch of heath and woodland, many of the trees are gnarled and aged, and its very wildness, the lack of cultivation, the ruggedness, made it strongly attractive in my eyes, and suggested my own country”.

Roosevelt and Sir Edward reached Brockenhurst at nightfall and spent the night at an inn which was in Roosevelt’s words: “. . . as comfortable as possible, and the bath and supper very enjoyable after our tramp; and altogether I passed no pleasanter twenty-four hours during my entire European trip”.

The bird which impressed Roosevelt most during his walking tour was the blackbird.  “I did not know what beautiful singers they were”, he writes. He goes on to say: “I knew he was a singer, but I had no idea how fine a singer he was”.  Roosevelt concludes: “. . . it is far easier to recognise him as the master singer that he is.  It is a fine thing for England to have such an asset of the countryside, a bird so common, so much in evidence, so fearless, and such a beautiful singer”.