Before the latter half of the eighteenth century, the Great Crested Grebe was fairly well distributed over Britain. However, by 1860, a total of 42 pairs were counted, the demise was due to its plumage becoming fashionable in the trimmings of clothes and hats. By 1867 only one pair of Great Crested Grebes was recorded at Tring reservoirs but by 1884 there were seventy-five pairs. Recolonisation began and was aided by the passing of the Bird Protection Act and a positive human reaction to its decline. Many of the women who wore the “grebe fur” fashioned clothing, became aware of […]
