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| Jeff in full flow |
Jeff Clarke's “Making a naturalist”..
At the February
Liverpool RSPB monthly meeting I listened to Jeff Clarke, one of our group’s
favourite speakers. As fellow ecologists Jeff and I have known each other for
many years on a professional basis. Each year he produces a brilliant and
entertaining talk, laced with loads of humour and this was no exception. He
tested out a brand new talk on us under the title of “Making a naturalist”.
Basically he told us his life story, of how he was
hooked on nature from his very earliest days as a child. He spoke of the
explorations into nature on his own and the help and encouragement he received
from his mum and dad with books and a pair of binoculars. He went through the
various stages of his career into his life as an ecologist with a particular
interest in birds (feathered of course!) He went through the different jobs he
did, including his employment as a ranger for Halton council. He left that
service after a disagreement with the director and went free-lance, the best
thing he ever did, he said. After that the world was his oyster – so to speak –
almost literally. He has gone all over the world on his own, with his wife and
daughter or else with small groups
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All through the talk he kept telling us of the
thrill he gets from sharing nature with others, from the very youngest children
to the oldest wrinklies. Jeff is a born communicator and it is the enthusing of
the younger generation that inspires him most. Show a kid the beauty and fascination
of nature and you have that child hooked for life, his own daughter is a prime
example. All the time he kept repeating what a lucky guy he was to be doing the
things he loved most of all in his life and being paid for it
There is a lot more I could write about the talk,
but what I really want to share, is that so much of what he had to say strongly
resonated with me. I was drawn back to my own life story and my own early
explorations of aquatic life in the ponds of North Wirral and my trips out to Hilbre
Island on the Dee estuary in wild wintry weather to watch the birds and the
seals. My mother often told others she knew when I was 8yrs, I was going to be
a water biologist, at the moment she saw me eating a buttie, whilst I watched
with fascination as a giant diving beetle larva ate a chunky tadpole in a jar
of water on the table.
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| Hilbre |
I have also derived enormous pleasure from showing
nature life to my children in their childhood. We have had some great times out
together over the years and I am so pleased their interest has continued into
their adulthood – a matter of great pride of achievement for me. And now it
continues with my grandson, Jamie. He is developing a fascination for all forms
of nature and I can see him turning into a budding bird watcher. Jeff has
really inspired me to put even more effort into nurturing his interest in
nature. We have some very special granddad – grandson days ahead of us I guess.
Thanks Jeff for a truly inspirational evening - David Holland
