Famous or celebrity birders. (1 Viewer)

Allen S. Moore · Sep 6, 2005

mikus said:
and present Liverpool goalie Dudek is probably not a birder, but his name stands for "hoopoe" in polish

I know that Nico, the name of a singer who was in an LP with Velvet Underground at least 30 years ago, shares the Welsh name of the bird called goldfinch in English. Iolo Williams (another celebrity ornithologist) told me that.

Allen S. Moore · Sep 6, 2005

bolton birdman said:
No one mentioned Harold Wilson. I remember reading about him being paranoid that the russians were spying on him while he was birding in Scilly. Think it was from a link from a thread in BF

I suppose that if he was that paranoid, he could have searched for birds round Bradford, where he was Chancellor when I was at University there. Russian submarines would not have made it up the River Aire.

Ian Bell · Sep 6, 2005

I saw Mike Hooper play a few times in goal for Newcastle United but never heard of him since.I hope he had more luck with his "bins" than between the posts..!

lvn600 · Sep 7, 2005

George Plimpton.

gw4aurora · Sep 7, 2005

Ben Nevis said:
I saw Mike Hooper play a few times in goal for Newcastle United but never heard of him since.I hope he had more luck with his "bins" than between the posts..!

I hope he grips his bins tighter than he did that football.

Chris.

Bill@dwp · Sep 7, 2005

Van Morrison apparently likes birding and the lyrics from Coney Island from Avalon Sunset mention birdwatching around Strandford Lough.
Spike Milligan was also keen and I read an obit of him which mentions him liking to take birdwatching hikes near to where his brother lived in Australia.
Duke of Edinburgh gets mentions now and again but I dont think watching them down the barrell of gun counts!
And for the obscure, John "Pugwash" Weathers the drummer from venerable prog rockers Gentle Giant. His biog on their website mentions he is a keen ornithologist.

I wonder how many celebs actually visit and subscribe to the BF site!

postcardcv · Sep 7, 2005

I saw Rory McGrath of 'they think it's all over' fame walking round Titchwell earlier in the year...

Strandman · Sep 7, 2005

postcardcv said:
I saw Rory McGrath of 'they think it's all over' fame walking round Titchwell earlier in the year...

at a Red-rumped Swallow twitch at Abberton many, many years ago (late 70s?) were

David Acfield (Essex bowler, famous for once saying "Strangely, in slow motion replay, the ball seemed to hang in the air for even longer!")

and

a chap taking his in labour wife to Colchester hospital (she was told to bang on the car window if she couldn't hang on any longer)

We all dipped on the R-r S that morning, which was a bit of a mega in those days (but was regularly strung).

seawatcher · Sep 7, 2005

Robyn Hitchcock (as in Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians) must surely be a birder (or interested in birds / nature). As an example in the song Bass (apparently about the fish called Bass rather than the bog awful lager) there is the line:

"It's not a cormorant, it's not a shag, It's only something in a plastic bag".

Anyone else noticed Robyn's ornithological / biological texts?

screaming piha · Sep 7, 2005

seawatcher said:
Anyone else noticed Robyn's ornithological / biological texts?

He went out with a birder mate somewhere in Devon some time in the 1980s and was so impressed he vowed to include as many bird/animal names in his songs as he could.

Woodchatshrike · Sep 7, 2005

Gashead said:
Hooper could be a member of the UK600 club but the fact that he played for Bristol City should forever destine him to be poked by small children with sharp sticks.

I have never read a more true statement on this forum.

Woodchatshrike · Sep 7, 2005

I have seen disgraced MP Ron Davies birdwatching. It is true. He is a birdwatcher.

HH75 · Sep 7, 2005

Hi all,
Have heard rumours about the following:
The Edge, Eric Clapton, Keith Flint (formerly of dance group The Prodigy), Jay K (of Jamiroquai (spelling?)), Billy Bonds (ex West Ham, apparently he was a twitcher also?) etc etc
Regards,
Harry

Allen S. Moore · Sep 7, 2005

seawatcher said:
Robyn Hitchcock (as in Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians) must surely be a birder (or interested in birds / nature). As an example in the song Bass (apparently about the fish called Bass rather than the bog awful lager) there is the line:

"It's not a cormorant, it's not a shag, It's only something in a plastic bag".

Anyone else noticed Robyn's ornithological / biological texts?

Might that be from an enthusiasm for poetry? Wasn't there a line that went:
"The common cormorant or shag, lays its eggs in a paper bag"?
Was Edward Lear the author of that?

Allen S. Moore · Sep 7, 2005

Bill@dwp said:
Spike Milligan was also keen and I read an obit of him which mentions him liking to take birdwatching hikes near to where his brother lived in Australia.

Spike Milligan was a great man. I seem to remember in the seventies his being taken to court for taking a gun to someone who was interfering with birds in his garden. (No, we do not condone that behaviour in this forum)

Steven Astley · Sep 7, 2005

Allen S. Moore said:
Is that a subtle question?
Just to change the subject a little, do you know Wes Halton? He's quite famous round some parts.

Hi Allen I am afraid I had never heard of him. Googled his name and found he does some he does some good work with swans and all the seperates us is my small local patch which coincidentally I counted 80 odd mute swans today

Bluetail · Sep 7, 2005

Allen S. Moore said:
Might that be from an enthusiasm for poetry? Wasn't there a line that went:
"The common cormorant or shag, lays its eggs in a paper bag"?
Was Edward Lear the author of that?

Anon, apparently:

The common cormorant or shag
Lays eggs inside a paper bag.
The reason you will see no doubt -
It is to keep the lightening out.
But what these unobservant birds
Have never noticed is that herds
Of wandering beasts may come with buns
And steal the bags to hold the crumbs.

buckskin hawk · Sep 7, 2005

lvn600 said:
I've heard that Theodore Roosevelt and Jimmy Carter were birders. Can you name any other famous people who were or are birders?

I just read a sad report this morning about the conditions one of the first bird refuges in the US that was established by Roosevelt. It is the Chandeleur islands (now maybe only shoals) off the coast of New Orleans.

Other famous birders would probably include famous Native Americans. Many of the dances, stories, religion, and dress are influenced by birds. We even have some diaries and journals of Ivory Billed sightings in the 1800s from Cherokees that lived near Tahlequah, Oklahoma. So add Sitting Bull, Geronimo, Sequoyah, Chief Joseph, Wilma Mankiller, Black Hawk, Sacajawea, Pocahontus, Osceola etc.

Allen S. Moore · Sep 7, 2005

bolton birdman said:
Hi Allen I am afraid I had never heard of him. Googled his name and found he does some he does some good work with swans and all the seperates us is my small local patch which coincidentally I counted 80 odd mute swans today

Was it a recent site? I must check sometime. It is good that Wes is still involved with mute swan research.

samuel walker · Sep 8, 2005

Bird loving Republican

Yes American birding would not exist if Teddy Roosevelt hadn't taken a keen interest in birds.He established pelican island refuge as this nation's first preserve.Amazing to me how modern day members of his party have wiped their feet on his legislation.
His cousin FDR was responsible for huge wetland refuges in the Great Lakes in the 1930s
Sam

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