This Birding Life (42 page)

Our final birding trip together came the following summer, when we visited the hills and valleys of mid-Wales in search of Choughs, Dippers and the magnificent Red Kite. I particularly remember one hot August Sunday, when we drove for miles and miles along steep, twisting roads, stopping every now and then to scan the skies for this rare and elusive creature.

We were just about to give up, when I noticed a Buzzard flying overhead. As I glanced through my binoculars, a second, smaller bird passed by in the blue sky above. My first Red Kite, and one that I've never forgotten. We decided to celebrate with a visit to a local pub, but had forgotten that in those days, most of Wales was ‘dry' on a Sunday. The pub was well and truly shut. I don't think my mother ever forgave them.

That trip was the end of an era. By now I no longer needed my mother's services as a chauffeur and guide, and I was old enough to travel on my own. Following university, I joined the BBC, and earlier this year fulfilled a long-held ambition by producing a television series on birdwatching,
Birding with Bill Oddie
. My mother was overjoyed and telephoned every one of her friends and neighbours to tell them the good news.

I last saw my mother on a fine, sunny afternoon in early April. We sat in her back garden in Shepperton, listening to the singing of Greenfinches, while the sparrows raided the peanut feeder. A week
later, while I was on a birdwatching trip to Jordan, I heard the news. My mother had died, suddenly, of a heart attack.

It is impossible to put into words how you feel about the loss of a parent. But after the grief and the sorrow, comes the gratitude. Thanks to her early encouragement, I have enjoyed the benefits of a lifetime's passion for birds and birdwatching. Now, I'm passing on her legacy to my younger son, James, who carries his granny's binoculars on our regular Sunday morning birdwatching trips.

So mum, for all this and for much, much more, thank you.

F
or some, birding is a solitary activity; for others, including me, a sociable one. As a result, the list of people I should like to thank for their companionship, guidance and support is a long one. To each of the individuals mentioned here, I am truly grateful.

My late mother, Kay Moss, without whom I might never have become interested in birds in the first place; the forgotten relative who bought me
The Observer's Book of Birds;
my teacher in form 2H, Saxon School, Mrs Threlfall; my classmates Alan Higgs, Glyn Goodwin, Rob Lightowlers, Ian Hyde and Roger Trent; Robert Elliott (YOC leader); the late Dr Drew Thompson, who kindly lent me his Zeiss binoculars; the late Bert Axell; Daniel Osorio, my longest-standing birding companion; his parents David and Martine Osorio; Nick Riddiford; Mick Lane; Franco Maroevic; the late Alan Turner; Ron Bloomfield; Neil McKillop; Sacha Barbato; Jo Hemmings; Mark Golley; David and Marta Sharrock; Suzanne Levy; Anthony Wood; Simon Ware; Andrew McClenaghan; Bill Oddie; Clive and Audrey Byers; Graham McAlpine; Anne Varley; Mike Toms; Chris Skinner; Chris Knights; Nick Watts;
everyone for whom Lonsdale Road Reservoir was ‘their patch'; the late Violet Hoare; Sam Moloney; Tim Appleton and Martin Davies; Tony Marr; Jackie Follett; Juliet Rix, Rod Standing and their sons Daniel and Luke; Nigel and Cheryle Redman; Rob Childs; John Aitchison; Chris Watson; Rita Aspinall; Lucy Meadows; the crew of the
Silurian;
Fiona Pitcher; Chris and Barbara Kightley; Richard Porter; Martin and Barbara Woodcock; Nick and Judy Comer-Calder; Mike Dilger; Robin Riseley; Scott Tibbles; Andy Hawley; Martin Hayward-Smith; Bill Pranty; Hadoram Shrihai; Chris and Helen Padley; the late Peter Grant; Killian Mullarney; Steve Rooke; Jucha Engel; Dan Alon; Barak Granit; Qusay Ahmad; Derek Moore; Gerard and Oda Ramsawak; Kenny Calderon; Susan Ramrattan; the production team and crew of
Big Cat Diary;
the staff of Governor's Paradise Camp, especially Colin Wellensky; Arnoud van den Berg; Richard North; Tim Hunt; the late Graham Hearl; Marek and Hania Borkowski, Nigel Bean; Richard Crossley; Pete Dunne; Sheila Lego; Marleen Murgitroyde; Joan and David Sibley; Pat and Clay Sutton; Ib Huysman; Solomon Jallow and Bubacarr Daffeh; the crew of the
Kapitan Dranitsyn;
Michaela Strachan; Ruth Flowers; Dirk Harmsen; Shireen Aga and Barbara Walker; Adam Chapman; Lena and Haffstein, the Eider farmers of Flatey; Dr Aevar Petersen; Debra Love Shearwater; Rob Yeoman; John A. Burton; David Cottridge; Steve Roberts; the late Jose Antonio Valverde; Cristina Lago; David Wilson; Eileen Goodwin; Martin Hughes-Games.

At the_
Guardian
, I should also like to thank Celia Locks for her editing skills over the past 13 years or so, and for her relentless war against my occasional tendency to make the column read like a Christmas round-robin letter! Also at the
Guardian:
Tim Radford, Stephanie Kerstein, Bernard Hunt and Martin Page. And not forgetting my friend and former colleague Paul Simons, whose generous suggestion that I joined him in writing the
Guardian's
Weather Watch column originally led to my association with that newspaper.

I owe great thanks to all those involved in the production of this book, including designer Peter Ward, copy-editor Wendy Smith and
Managing Editor at Aurum Press, Phoebe Clapham. The doyen of British bird artists, Robert Gillmor, provided the delightful and striking cover illustration, while Jan Wilczur did the line-drawings that grace each chapter. As always my dear friend Graham Coster (himself a birder of growing enthusiasm and distinction) did his usual excellent editing job. And of course to readers of this column past and present; thank you for your kind and supportive letters over the years. Here, at last, is the book so many of you have requested …

Finally, as always, I owe a huge debt to my family: my sons David, James, Charlie and George; my daughter Daisy; and my wife Suzanne, with whom so many experiences in this book have been shared. I look forward to many more in the future.

STEPHEN MOSS

Hampton, Middlesex; May 2006

First published in 2006

by Aurum Press Ltd, 74-77 White Lion Street, London N1 9PF

www.aurumpress.co.uk

in association with Guardian Books.

Guardian Books is an imprint of Guardian Newspapers Ltd.

This eBook edition first published in 2014 by Aurum Press Ltd

Copyright © 2006, 2014 Stephen Moss

The pieces collected in this book were first published in the
Guardian
.

Illustrations by Jan Wilczur

All rights reserved

This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author's and publisher's rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

eBook conversion by Quayside Publishing Group

Digital edition: 978-1-78131-211-7
Softcover edition: 978-1-84513-360-3