BirdAtlas 2007-11: For Ruth by Ian Traynor
My wife, Ruth and I, having been involved with the Breeding Bird Survey right from its start, decided to throw ourselves wholeheartedly into the Atlas and try to get minimum coverage of a 10x10Km square by taking on 8 tetrads. Our aim was to complete 2 tedrads per year over the 4 year period.
We nearly accomplished this but sadly, Ruth was taken ill in January 2010 and died on 4th March. This left two winter visits left in the tetrad and the 4 breeding season visits.
I was determined to carry on, by myself if necessary, but I was helped out by a close friend, Peter Watson, who also acts as an Atlas validator in our area. Peter did the remaining two winter visits (I didn't feel I could handle those) but after Ruth died, he accompanied me on the four breeding season visits.
I was so grateful for his companionship on the surveys, even though he got me out of bed far earlier than I would have liked! I know that this is what Ruth would have wanted, and I'm sad that she never got to see the completion of this huge project.
We nearly accomplished this but sadly, Ruth was taken ill in January 2010 and died on 4th March. This left two winter visits left in the tetrad and the 4 breeding season visits.
I was determined to carry on, by myself if necessary, but I was helped out by a close friend, Peter Watson, who also acts as an Atlas validator in our area. Peter did the remaining two winter visits (I didn't feel I could handle those) but after Ruth died, he accompanied me on the four breeding season visits.
I was so grateful for his companionship on the surveys, even though he got me out of bed far earlier than I would have liked! I know that this is what Ruth would have wanted, and I'm sad that she never got to see the completion of this huge project.
Ian Traynor
If you've got a story about your bird recording experiences we'd love to hear from you, please email ieuan.evans [at] bto.org (subject: My%20bird%20recording%20story) (Ieuan Evans).
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