22 
I first met Don in 1973, when I joined his Hersham Ringing Group at 
Kempton Park, Surrey. My first impression of him was of someone with a 
tremendous capacity for early starts and long, hard days, an ability from 
which he never faltered while I knew him. Even with the renowned keenness 
of a rookie ringer and with my being a generation his junior, I found the 
greatest difficulty in matching his vigour and enthusiasm. Just when the 
day had worn me out, Don would decide to move camp to some other site, 
where we might catch a few migrants, flick-net Swifts, or process the 
contents of 40 nest-boxes. His patient teaching and attention to detail 
was an extremely good example and a very firm base for myself and many 
others who passed through his capable hands. Rejoining Hersham Ringing 
Group after Saudi Arabia in 1977, Don introduced me to the Ornithological 
Society of Turkey and, in his persuasive way, got me to take over the 
duties of Treasurer and Membership. Not an onerous task because, in late 
1977, paid-up membership had sunk to a dismal 30. Very much due to Don's 
efforts as Secretary of OST, the Society gradually dragged itself together 
and, within five years, now as OSME, had reached a membership of 600 or 
more, a level at which it has remained, more or less, since. He took over 
the task of editing Sandgrouse after OSME had been badly let down on the 
editorial side after its formation. Had Don not been able to get three 
issues of Sandgrouse out in his first twelve months as Editor, and thereby 
catch up what was owed to members, the Society may well have collapsed 
before it got off the ground. Since those dark days, Don has taken 
Sandgrouse from strength to strength, each issue seeing an improvement on 
the last in format, presentation and content. At Council meetings as 
Secretary and Editor, his experience, attention to detail and downright 
common sense won great respect, and had much influence on the procedure, 
business and enterprises of the Society. 
Apart from our mutual interest in Kempton Park, Turkey and OSME, we 
travelled together on three surveys in Egypt. In 1982, we both took park 
in a raptor survey at Suez. Don's old traits of energy and determination 
came to the fore here. Not content with a full day on his back looking at 
the sky for raptors, he had to trudge doggedly through every likely patch 
of vegetation and stagnant water early morning and late evening to catch 
up on elusive passerine migrants and waders that might just be there. 
Endearingly for a chap who had spent many years in the field, he still got 
a tremendous thrill out of seeing a 'lifer' - or even the mere chance of 
seeing one. In 1983 and 1984, we returned to Egypt in spring and autumn, 
respectively, to survey breeding seabirds on the islands in the Gulf of 
Suez. On these trips, shuttered together on little boats, sleeping rough 
or trudging across desolate islands, personality traits came to the fore. 
Don was a basically serious man, with a touch of the dourness of his 
native Yorkshire, but at the same time he was able to enjoy a joke, 
although not always if it was on him. He was practical, pragmatic, liked 
straight talking and liked his dealings to be procedural. These 
attributes could be an impediment when travelling in the Middle East, and 
in Egypt, for example, I found that he had little notion or patience for 
the contortions of the oriental mind, the perfection of the local 
bureaucracy or for the finer points of protracted haggling, all of which 
we met in great abundance. 
