Dear B-A readers,
I just want to pass on the very sad news to B-A that Mark Barter passed away
last week from a long illness. Mark is well known for his outstanding and
tireless involvement with both the Victorian Wader Study Group and the
Australian Wader Study Group, as well as his incredible work involving
conservation of Shorebirds in the Yellow Sea region of China. To say that Mark
was passionate about shorebirds is a gross understatement; he could readily age
and determine the stage of moult of a Red Knot at 200 paces without even
lifting his trusty Zeiss to his eyes, but this passion also extended to
birdwatching in general, camping, travelling and most of all his family.
On a personal level, Mark was instrumental in fostering and encouraging me as a
young bloke and rather green birder, and we spent many happy hours watching
waders down at the Werribee Sewage Farm(as it was known back then) from the
mid-eighties through to the early nineties. Mark was generally unflappable and
upbeat, but this demeanour was dropped on one particular occasion down at the
plant when his Mitsubishi L300 Express with it's rather low clearance got stuck
on a rut on a track somewhere in the eastern section of the plant, back when
the vehicle tracks weren't graded much. Much digging and burning of clutch
later was to no avail and we had to rely on farm staff to yank us out very late
in the day. We saw some nice avocet though...
He was a good friend & mentor and he will be sorely missed.
Condolences to Mark's wife Teri and their children Lisa, Robert, Andrew and
Karen.
RIP Mark.
Steve Davidson
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