Brought up in the rolling farmlands of County Durham in the North East of England, and only a few hours drive from the screaming seabird colonies of the Farne Islands and Fife coasts Isle of May puffin sanctuary, David has spent a lot of time on islands. They are wonderful places to draw birds at close quarters undisturbed.
In 1986, David was invited by Dick Veitch of the New Zealand Wildlife Service to visit the Chatham Islands, to record ground-breaking conservation work to save the black robin from extinction.
The subsequent book ‘Black Robin Country’, published by Hodder & Stoughton, was well received, and in 1988 I embarked on a second visit to Little Barrier Island and Stewart Island, to document further work to save the Kakapo parrot from a similar fate.
Both birds are now doing well, proof that dedicated conservation work can make a serious contribution to species bio-diversity.
Rainforests hold the greatest diversity of animal life on the planet, and those of Madagascar have many species, which can be found nowhere else on earth.
Working alongside a group of young scientists sponsored by Professor David Bellamy's Conservation Foundation, it was Davids role to record the many plant and animal species in the areas of northern primary forest the expeditions surveyed in 1986 and 1988.
Working in wet and humid conditions added an interesting challenge to watercolour painting in the field, a one David would not have missed for the world.
