23 December 2020
Lesvos Birders Facebook group (over 3k members) founded by Steve Dudley .
Sad to say that Steve Dudley announced yesterday that he was severing all contacts in relation to
Lesvos related wildlife groups, for personal reasons .
As many reading this post will know, Steve Dudley wrote and published the definitive "Guide to Birdwatching on Lesvos"
( Arlequin Press) 10 years ago.
Carrying on from the foundations laid by naturlist, photographer and writer Richard Brooks, Steve had worked tirelessly
for many years , promoting Lesvos island as European eco tourism hot spot, working with local officials to promote conservation,
as a member of the Hellenic Bird Records Committee and by selflessly bringing some scientific order to/ and collating annual bird
reports for the island. I have no doubt that as an ambassador for Lesvos he will be sadly missed.
Yesterday's announcement also included reference to the fact that although he had completed
work on a revised edition of his Guide Book , due to the fact that he had been unable to secure the publication rights
to some technical aspects of the original edition for carrying over to it , a second edition would sadly not see the light of day.
I would like to offer my best wishes to Steve Dudley for his future ventures and our thanks for shining a light on
the bio-diversity that Lesvos can offer the travelling birder.