Dear Birding-Ausers,
It seems to me that the Victorian and Australian birding community were
very much Fred Smith's family. He was exceedingly generous with his
time and his knowledge. He provided both to all he knew, as far as I
observed, and I was lucky that he included me in his extended family.
He was extremely patient and had tremendous stamina.
Fred was an excellent birder. He had an extraordinary knowledge of
Australian birds. He studied the hard-to-identify groups much earlier
than most Australian bird-watchers and provided insights into how to
identify difficult groups, like raptors and seabirds. His passion was
waders and he was one of the primary pioneers, if not THE primary
pioneer, in identifying and studying waders in Victoria. That is why he
has a personal list full of records of first sightings of waders in
Victoria and in Australia.
He was also a great raconteur, telling myriad stories about his
adventures, and those of others, about his and their bird-watching
through the years.
To me, Fred was first and foremost a friend. From when I first met him
soon after I started birding in the late 1980s, Fred was one of my two
birding mentors. He adopted me and we went on numerous outings around
Victoria and on birding trips around Australia. I learnt much from him
when I first met him until even after he was forced to give up active
bird-watching in the last year or so. He taught me the value of being
able to identify bird by their calls. He showed me how to be thorough.
Early on, I thought he was a bit mad as we used to spend a lot of time
looking at, for example, Silver Gull flocks. Initially, I thought that,
although they were quite attractive birds, spending an hour or two
looking at hundreds of them might have been a bit excessive. Only after
some time did I realise that we were actually looking for rare gulls
that might be roosting among the common ones.
I suppose the one thing I hold against him is that he introduced me to
waders. I spent a lot of time with him looking through wader flocks,
again searching for vagrants. Despite my initial inclinations, they have
become my favourite bird group as well. Even though my skills do not
hold up very well against his, I have spent many enjoyable hours looking
at them with Fred and others, appreciating the common ones and trying to
find the possible rare one in the flock.
It is with sadness that I note Fred's passing. I will miss him.
But, if you would like to contemplate someone living the life that
he/she wanted for him/herself, you really can't go past Fred, who birded
studiously and constantly for nearly the whole of his 90 years. I think
a life well lived.
Vale Fred.
Chris Lester
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