Regular readers will know that I try to post each Friday. Sadly, last week proved to be not possible, following the unexpected death of my dad.
It was my dad, with support from my mum, who got me into nature from a very early age. Dad had been a birdwatcher since the 1950s, an age where there weren't that many folk doing it nor the information and nature reserves to go with it. He would stay at bird observatories such as Bardsey, Portland and Fair Isle, ringing birds, and he was a long-time officer of the West Midland Bird Club.
By occupation he was a maths teacher and then deputy head at King Edwards Five Ways Grammar School in Birmingham, where he also led a birdwatching group for the boys. They'd head off around the local 'hotspot', Bartley Reservoir, an uninspiring concrete-edged affair, where a one-off Common Sandpiper or Wigeon might be the annual highlight.
But that didn't stop enough of the boys being interested enough to come away on birdwatching holidays he would lead in the Welsh mountains, which the family would go along to as well, me just a little boy at that stage.
Family holidays away from the schoolboys were spent in Britain's most wild and beautiful and nature-filled places - the North Norfolk Coast, the Cairngorms, Northumberland, Suffolk, Devon, Pembrokeshire, Anglesey, The Lake District. I think I had binoculars around my neck before I could talk, although they were only a third the size of my dad's huge cumbersome optics.
Apart from birdwatching, the other two things that dad did in his spare time were to act as volunteer warden for Worcester Nature Conservation Trust, looking after the woodlands where Nightingales bred. And gardening, whether on his allotment or around our village garden, where he grew most of the vegetables we ate and tended the flower beds. I think you can spot the source of my interests, and indeed career!
For me, as I reflect on so many things, I'm so grateful for the influence my dad had on my life's path. It is a powerful reminder of how important it is that we use our love of nature to inspire people so that they too appreciate and ultimately want to protect it.
Thanks for everything, Dad.
Mum and dad, and my usually-not-so-camera-shy dog, here 20 years ago at Slapton Ley in Devon, dad as usual with binoculars in his hand.
That’s so sad to hear
Thanks for your kind comments and reflections, everyone. Dad's passing reminds me to live every moment to the full and achieve the best I can.
A wonderful heart felt tribute from a son to a father I'm sure your father would be just as proud of you as you were of him . Its a shame that many families did not have your upbringing or experiences its down to you to do your part in society now and carry on the good work of your father
I'm sorry to hear about your father but what a wonderful legacy he left.
My mother was the person who nurtured my appreciation for wildlife. I remember hours wandering through the countryside, peering into ponds, spotting beetles, bees, butterflies and wildflowers. I feed the birds but my passion lies with all the things I remember from childhood.
I've got some rare beetles living and breeding in my garden, without my mum's encouragement they'd be a little bit rarer.
Very sorry for your loss, Adrian. That's a lovely tribute, your dad sounds pretty awesome.