Weedon’s World
The ho, ho, Happy Christmas season is upon us, and Mike would like to offer his appreciation for some unsung heroes
Mike offers his appreciation to some unsung heroes
December is a month of celebration! I am not, of course, talking about elections, but good old Chrimbo. It is a time for family and friends; and the season of New Year’s Honours, when the Queen dishes out gongs to a few celebrities and a load of people you’ve never heard of, who have made a pile of money ‘in industry’, or whatever. But there are very few medals for the thankless heroes out there trying to protect and nurture our precious wildlife.
In Back Chat each month in BW, we always ask our interviewees to name their inspirations and mentors. It is a question which always gets me scratching my own (bald) head. In the strictest sense, I didn’t really have a single birdwatching ‘mentor’ as a kid, though having a couple of brothers who loved birds helped, as did having a father who would take us out birding when we visited him in Scotland, in school holidays.
However, since I moved to Peterborough in 2000, three characters stand out as particularly inspirational figures. I will start with Bird Watching’s own Gordon Hamlett (of UKBS fame, as well as being the author of the definitive guide to birdwatching sites in the Highlands). His name has cropped up recently in our letters pages, as people who have met him in the field have felt the need to sing his praises in print. That is because he is, frankly, great at nurturing young birdwatchers and relative beginners, alike.
When I first moved here, it was Gordon (who was a regular in the BW office), who first introduced me to the amazing sites the Peterborough area has to offer, after inviting me to join his team in the local spring ‘bird race’. We miss him on the birding scene, here... Fear not, though, Gordon’s alive! And well, and living in north Norfolk, still spreading inspiration.
Secondly, I must acknowledge the profound influence of my good friend Brian ‘The Natural’ Stone. Brian was the brains behind our brilliant local bird ‘mailing list’, Peterbirder and the foundations of our local bird club’s website; and was also the ‘area recorder’ (Peterborough is peculiar in that our recording area spans county boundaries, with areas of Cambs, Lincs, Northants and Rutland included).
But more than that, Brian was the first ‘amateur’ birder I ever met who was birding all the time: before work, at lunchtime and after work, every day! His bird-finding around here is legendary, with particular highlights being an ultra-rare Dartford Warbler (2003), a twitchable Hoopoe (2004; a bird which I still ‘need’, locally!), and an almost mythical Nightjar in 2006.
His enthusiasm was boundless, his energy enviable. Indeed, it was Brian who introduced me to the BIGBY (Big Green Birding Year) concept: and you may recall the two of us set a Cambs self-powered (ie mainly cycling) day list record of 110 species in 2010.
He was also the person who, while snapping Dingy Skippers, inspired me to finally get a digital camera, take up digiscoping and get into bird photography.
These days, Brian, aka ‘The Pirate’, has changed careers and lifestyles dramatically, and you can catch him performing his own songs at folky festivals or in a pub music venue near you! Or else he and his wife will be touring in their campervan, or spending the colder months in sunnier climes, such as in south-east Asia…
Finally, I must give a big shout out to my friend Charlie Kitchin, the epitome of an unsung hero. Charlie is the site manager of Nene Washes RSPB. He is responsible for this incredible reserve, which is home to breeding Cranes, Bitterns, Marsh Harriers, Spotted Crakes and to the national Corn Crake reintroduction programme (plus breeding Snipe, Redshank and Lapwing, in significant numbers). But, more than that, he has dedicated most of his adult life to the conservation of the Black-tailed Godwit. The Nene Washes are the last remaining breeding refuge for the European (nominate) subspecies of Black-tailed Godwit in the UK, and their continued survival and success is down to the decades of tireless work of Charlie and his team. Charlie ‘The Godwit Whisperer’ is always thinking about Blacktailed Godwits; I would wager he dreams about them!
This is the sort of person who I would like to see getting awards in the Honours List. I raise a Chringle glass to the heroes, the inspirers, the champions of birdwatching. Happy Christmas, everyone!
There are very few medals for The heroes Trying To protect wildlife