Life began for me in the depths of rural countryside on the Shropshire / Montgomeryshire border, so there was always an interest in the great outdoors. Eventually I found myself in Macclesfield, Cheshire and became involved in natural history organisations, volunteering on conservation projects (rhododendron bashing, woodland management etc.) and bird surveys (upland breeding birds, especially Redstarts).
Work as a statistician in the pharmaceutical industry then brought me to West Sussex with spare time spent birding around the West Sussex / Surrey heathlands and the coastal joys of Pagham Harbour. In the early 90’s I moved to Worth where the fields behind our house were still on the RSPB wish-list and at times walking along the Pinnock Wall was bereft of birds apart from the summer warblers – how times have changed for the better in the last couple of years! Retirement from Pfizer gave me a bit more spare time so I joined the Observatory, attending talks and walks and then, in 2020, joining Council. Also in the last few years I’ve been helping with Turtle Dove monitoring and supplementary feeding around the Pinnock Wall in the hope that we can stabilise and then increase the local population of this vulnerable and iconic species.
Other interests include travel, with bird and mammal safaris to several of the US National Parks, north and east Africa and India, and also researching my family history.
So, in summary, I’m best described as enthusiastic, fairly knowledgeable, but no expert, on all aspects of natural history. I live in hope that the human race takes greater care and stewardship of our planet and that future generations are able to have the same opportunities as myself in getting pleasure from natural habitats and wildlife throughout the globe.