 |
I am reminded, in this drawing, of my first view of an Osprey, as a boy in 1961 at Loch Garten, seen in profile, dark against the sky. My remark then was "This is a heraldic bird, like you'd see on a shield."
My elder colleague, maybe George Waterston himself, expressed his agreement.
The hide in those days was a mere garden shed with a hole cut in the back as a 'viewing slit', armed with a huge military binocular telescope and an old man, full of enthusiasm, who signed me up into the Junior Bird Recorder's Club, predecessor of today's Wildlife Explorers.
George Waterson was 'the man' who took the courageous step of making Project Osprey public, introcuding a policy, new to the RSPB, of intesting the public in birding and conservation by allowing them to view rare and beautiful birds close at hand.
I also recall asking my mentor if capercaillie could be seen there. "Yes", he replied, with a wry smile, "if you can be here at dawn!"
Forty years later, the RSPB began to open the Osprey Centre at dawn for the public to see lekking capercaillie, which had become, yet again, endangered. |
