Thanks John, and I'm very sad to hear about Fred. We'll all miss him.
Along with so many others, I've greatly enjoyed his friendship, advice,
guidance and support from the very first time I arrived in Melbourne in
1973. Fred introduced me to many of the local wader places including the
WTP. And I remember how incredulous I was when he and Bob Swindley told me
that was one of the few places where Orange-bellied Parrots could be found
in winter, and how right they unfortunately proved to be.
Many people have said how generous Fred was with his time, and I certainly
echo that. Also what a giant he was in terms of showing what a huge
contribution birders can make to our knowledge, in the days when there were
no good field guides and some people still believed that specimens were
needed to confirm the identity of difficult species like waders! Fred led
the way in dispelling that archaic belief. His field observations were
meticulous, and he shared them with others in the field and through
publications. Mike Carter listed some of the birds he has added to the
Australian list, especially waders. I think it's quite amazing that one
person should be responsible for adding every one of the world's three
phalarope species to the list of this continent! That's an achievement that
would be hard to beat anywhere, but it didn't stop there. And Fred remained
modest, full of quiet dry humour and keen to help others who shared his
passion for birds.
Many happy memories of Fred, including on our Twitchathon team and chance
meetings at good birding spots. We'll miss him greatly but his
contributions will live on. Sorry I'll miss the funeral as I'll be
overseas, but I will be thinking of Fred and am sure many good stories will
be told.
Richard.
Richard Loyn
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of John Barkla
Sent: Friday, 21 June 2013 12:00 PM
To:
Subject: Frederick T H Smith
For those in the birding community who may have missed the funeral notice
for Fred, his service will be held at 10.15am next Wednesday (26 June) at
Renowden Chapel, Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Princes Highway, Springvale.
It will be our chance to say goodbye to our much loved friend.
John Barkla
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