As a child in war-ravaged London, Peter would scramble across the rubble, scavenging anything of interest and imagining himself as a great vulture soaring over the African plains. This childhood fantasy led him to Africa in the early 1970s and within two decades he had established himself as the leading authority on African vultures with the publication of The Vultures of Africa. A group of American bibliographers wrote: ‘It will be on the shortlist of great books on birds of prey.’
Born in 1941 in Somerset, where his mother had been evacuated from London’s badly bombed East End, Peter grew up in Romford, Essex. There he acquired the broad Cockney accent that never left him and amplified his incisive sense of humour. He attended the Royal Liberty Grammar School, excelling in science subjects and participating in the British Schools Exploring Society’s six-week expedition to Iceland in 1960. After leaving school and working as a grave digger for a brief period, he took up a place at Worcester College, University of Oxford.
Peter was there to read zoology, but opted instead to read the complete works of Dostoevsky and to learn to play the baritone saxophone. Inevitably, he was rusticated and he spent the next few years playing saxophone with various R‘n’B bands, ending up with Screaming Lord Sutch. His last gig with Sutch (known for his horror-themed stage show and later for founding the Official Monster Raving Loony Party) was in France in 1966. The band had expected No.1 billing, but found themselves No.2, the top spot going to a couple of folk singers from the US: Simon and Garfunkel.
This story is from the May/June 2023 edition of African Birdlife.
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This story is from the May/June 2023 edition of African Birdlife.
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EXPLORING NEW HORIZONS
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The late summer period naturally started quietening down after the midsummer excitement, but there were still some classy rarities on offer for birders all over the subregion. As always, none of the records included here have been adjudicated by any of the subregion's Rarities Committees.
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