Sjoerd Vredenbregt The Call of the Godwit An Exploration of Birds and Farmers in a Landscape of Loss Master’s thesis in Global Environmental History 2 Abstract Vredenbregt, S.J.C. 2019. The Call of the Godwit – An Exploration of Birds and Farmers in a Landscape of Loss. Uppsala, Department of Archaeology and Ancient History. The lives of black-tailed godwits and farmers in the meadow landscapes of the Netherlands are closely entangled. While godwits and other ‘meadow birds’ have lived in around the hu- man shaped meadows for many centuries and, especially in the first half of the 20th century, profited from farming practices, from the second half of the 20th century, their populations started to decline rapidly. Based on studies to the ecology and ethology of godwits, and inter- views with farmers that work to save godwits and other birds on their land, this thesis explores the relationship between godwits and farmers situated in the meadow landscape through lively ethographic storytelling. Storytelling is a powerful method because it leaves open for multiple perspectives, without privileging the one over the other. Through this approach I aim to tell the stories of godwits and farmers alongside each other, in a way that gives individuals agency and presents their lives as meaningful. Through these stories I hope to engage readers with, and (re)connect them to, the lives of godwits and farmers and open up to a ‘capacity for re- sponse’. Keywords: black-tailed godwit, meadow birds, agriculture, multispecies studies, lively ethog- raphy, flight ways, storytelling, landscape, conservation. Master’s thesis in Global Environmental History (60 credits), supervisor: Anneli Ekblom, De- fended and approved spring term 2019-06-05. © Sjoerd Vredenbregt Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University, Box 626, 75126 Upp- sala, Sweden. 3 Acknowledgements I am thankful to everyone who supported me in the process of writing this thesis, or in the explorative journey that preceded, ultimately leading up to this thesis. In particular I like to thank Anneli Ekblom, who, as my supervisor has given me the freedom to discover and deepen my interests in writing this thesis. Also my study friends have helped me a lot in var- ious ways and studying with them almost every day has made this year very enjoyable. I am also very grateful to the interviewees presented in this text for donating their time and shar- ing their fascinating stories. Lastly, I thank my parents, for their unconditional love and sup- port during my Swedish adventure and their continuous interest in my studies, godwits and farmers. 4 Birds have a way of weaving themselves into space, with their calls and their cries: a quotidian givenness that can make their disappearance shocking, difficult to absorb, unthinkable. Hugo Reinert, 2018 5 Contents 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 8 1.1. Storying entangled multispecies histories .................................................................................. 9 1.1.1. Lively ethography ............................................................................................................... 9 1.1.2. Bird migration throUgh hUman eyes ................................................................................. 10 1.2. Black-tailed godwits ................................................................................................................. 11 1.3. Farmers ..................................................................................................................................... 13 2. Situating the landscape .................................................................................................................... 15 2.1. Towards a godwit ‘El Dorado’ ................................................................................................. 15 2.1.1. Cultivating the land .......................................................................................................... 15 2.1.2. Fertilising the land ............................................................................................................ 17 2.2. Rationalising the landscape ...................................................................................................... 19 2.2.1. Mechanising milk ............................................................................................................. 22 2.3. Ways of farming in a productionist agriculture ....................................................................... 23 3. Sky Shepherds .................................................................................................................................. 27 3.1. Flyways .................................................................................................................................... 27 3.1.1. Evolutionary paths ............................................................................................................ 27 3.1.2. Skyward ............................................................................................................................ 29 3.2. In the meadows ........................................................................................................................ 31 3.2.1. Welcomed by farmers ....................................................................................................... 31 3.2.2. Breeding ........................................................................................................................... 31 3.2.3. Nesting .............................................................................................................................. 32 3.2.4. Growing a new generation ................................................................................................ 33 3.2.5. Departure .......................................................................................................................... 35 4. Loss of godwits in a ruptured landscape .......................................................................................... 36 4.1. Setting the debate ..................................................................................................................... 36 4.2. Ecologists as spokespeople ...................................................................................................... 37 4.2.1. Rendering godwits visible ................................................................................................ 37 4.2.2. Representing godwits politically ...................................................................................... 39 4.2. Farmers’ perspective ................................................................................................................ 41 5. Meadow bird farmers ....................................................................................................................... 44 5.1. Views on regular farming ......................................................................................................... 44 5.2. Agricultural landscape management ........................................................................................ 46 5.2.1. A farmers’ encounter with predation ................................................................................ 49 5.3. Seeking motivation ................................................................................................................... 50 6. Botes’ oase ....................................................................................................................................... 52 7. Aukes’ transition .............................................................................................................................. 58 7.1. Composing with the land ......................................................................................................... 58 7.2 Opening up the land .................................................................................................................. 61 8. Discussion ........................................................................................................................................ 62 8.1. Storying the landscape ............................................................................................................. 62 8.2. Participants in godwit loss ....................................................................................................... 63 6 8.3. Experimenting in response ....................................................................................................... 64 8.4. Resonating calls ....................................................................................................................... 65 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................................ 66 Interviews ........................................................................................................................................ 71 7 1. Introduction For many people in the Netherlands, especially in the rural areas, black-tailed godwits are the heralds of spring. Their arrival in the meadows symbolises how the landscape comes back to life after winter. Even for me, spending most of my life in Dutch cities, the arrival of black- tailed godwits (hereafter just ‘godwits’) is magical. Their return feels like a combination