Remembering Gwendolen

Oil and acrylic in underpainting on high quality canvas

size 60 x 60 cm

unframed

Gwendolen Howard (1894 - 5 January 1973) was a British naturalist and musician. She is known for her unique amateur studies of birds, which she published in various periodicals and two books under the pseudonym Len Howard.

Howard, who once lived in Bird Cottage, established an intimate, partnered relationship with the wild birds in the area, providing food (including her own war rations), chasing away predators, tending damaged nests, and allowing birds to fly and roost throughout the house. Around 1949, Howard began publishing her field notes and "bird biographies" in British natural history journals, and in 1950 her first book was published by Collins Press. Howard continued to write and publish about her birds until at least 1957. Believing that fear was a major motivating factor in most bird displays observed by humans, Howard wanted to combat the scientific conclusions that were drawn from such observations, and therefore sought great control over her environment and that of her birds to maximize their sense of security and to foster a barrier-free relationship with them. To this end, Howard was reclusive and gave strict instructions to those who dared to visit or contact her at the Birdhouse. Howard also undertook a public campaign in the 1960s to prevent the development of land around her property.

In her writings, Howard argued that individual intelligence, rather than mere instinct, was responsible for most bird behavior.

Howard paid particular attention to the Horned Tit in her studies, although she also wrote about other tits, wrens, sparrows, blackbirds, thrushes and finches, among others, and chose particularly striking individuals in her biographies. Howard's musical training gave her unique insight into birdsong, and the final section of her first book is devoted to a thorough analysis of the subject.

Gwendolen Howard died at Bird Cottage on 5 January 1973 at the age of 79.

In 2016, a novel by the Dutch author Eva Meijerová, Het Vogelhuis, Czech for "The Birdhouse", based on the life and work of Len Howard, was published in the Netherlands and became a bestseller. It has subsequently been translated into several languages. The English translation of Antoinette Fawcett's "Bird Cottage" was published worldwide by Pushkin Press on 30 August 2018.