Guardian Spirit of the East Bank
by Moss Taylor (pub. Wren Publishing)
Although I was never fortunate enough to meet Richard Richardson, I am not alone in the profound impact that he had upon my life. It was as a young child that I stumbled across my mother's long-discarded copy of The Pocket Guide to British Birds. The book had been published many years before in 1952, but to the eager young eyes of a 6-year old fledgling birder it was like having all my Christmases come at once! Richardson's illustrations brought exotic, unheard of species to life. His illustrations were like nothing that I had seen before, as the birds seemed to flit about the page before me. My prized acquisition rendered my Observer's Book of Birds obsolete and this shabby family copy was to act as my Bible for the first few years of my birding life, providing inspiration and education every time that I ventured outdoors.
Sadly, birding appears to be increasingly devoid of personalities nowadays. We are more interested in primary emarginations than those individuals who facilitated the endless progress of field identification skills in the latter half of the 20th century. A wealth of information is now available at our fingertips and, as a consequence, few nowadays learn about birds and their identification through encounters with their peers. Moss Taylor's biography of Richard Richardson allows us a touching insight into the life of a man who had the gift of being able to communicate with people from the whole birding spectrum, from experts and academics to absolute beginners and those simply out for a walk in the fresh air! It would appear that all who came into contact with him were made to feel special and he clearly had a gift for passing the enjoyment of birding on to all who came under his spell.
There can be few of the top birders in the country who will not have been inspired by something that Richard Richardson said, illustrated or wrote. One of my favourite accounts involves the story about Richard Richardson's meeting with two young lads on the East Bank at Cley. As he chatted to them it became clear that they were on holiday and they had an interest in birdwatching, but they did not have any binoculars. On finding that the boys were to be in the area for a few days Richardson took his own binoculars from his neck and asked the boys to return them to him on the East Bank before they left for home. Would anyone today be so trusting of a couple of strangers? But then again, on reading Guardian Spirit of the East Bank, gestures of this nature were the norm for Richard Richardson and it is understandable why this one individual touched the lives of so many.
This book comes in a large format, unusual for modern bird books. But, as you thumb through the 220 lavish pages, you realise that it was by far and away the best means of accommodating the 190 illustrations and personal accounts. Reading this book will help the reader understand the appeal of Richardson and this carefully crafted biography is testimony to the love of this unassuming man by those who were lucky enough to encounter him. For those wanting to read about the birders rather than the birds, this book is an excellent antidote to an endless stream of family monographs, "where to watch" books and field guides. Let's hope that this sets the trend for more biographies and autobiographies charting the lives and impact of some of our most famous peers.
