Hugh Boyd, <scp>CM</scp> (1925–2016)

My very good friend of over 55 years, my mentor and my best man, Hugh James Boyd, died on 3 July 2016 at the age of 91. Born in Bristol on 12 May 1925, he was educated at Bristol Grammar School (which, at the wish of his widow Gillian, is to have a scholarship in his name) and at Bristol University. He had a keen interest in birds from an early age and his first employment was in 1948 as the warden of Lundy Bird Observatory. He was only there for a year because in 1949 he was appointed by Peter Scott (later Sir Peter Scott) as the Resident Biologist at the Severn Wildfowl Trust (now the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust). Thus began a lifetime's work on wildfowl leading to over 180 publications, especially on geese, waders, seabirds and, latterly, on the effects of climate change in the Arctic. At Slimbridge, Hugh began detailed studies of the European White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons albifrons, identifying individual adults by their belly markings, and participated in an intensive study of Pink-footed Geese Anser brachyrhynchus, which included trapping and ringing on both the Scottish wintering grounds and the Icelandic breeding grounds. This led directly to the need to discover just how many Pinkfeet, an important quarry species, made up the population and Hugh began organizing annual censuses (continuing to this day) with the assistance of amateur birdwatchers. This was soon extended to other species of geese, including the Barnacle Goose Branta leucopsis, of which about two-thirds wintered on Islay, where they could be counted on the ground, but the rest, scattered on islands from Orkney to Co. Kerry, Ireland, required aerial surveys using a light aircraft. Hugh pioneered this technique in Britain, surviving no fewer than three crash-landings, one of which involved the aircraft ending upside-down! In 1959, Clive Minton (then a Cambridge post-graduate) persuaded the WWT to permit the use of their rocket-nets (designed for catching geese) on The Wash to catch waders, which at high tide roosted in dense flocks on fields just inland of the seawall. This proved very successful, with over 14 000 birds caught in an annual 2 weeks for the next 5 years, leading directly to the formation of the Wash Wader Ringing Group, which continues this work to this day. Hugh's contribution not only included active help with the catching, but a seminal paper in Ibis in 1962 on the mortality and fertility of the Charadrii, the first such analysis ever undertaken. In 1964, with the WWT's work including not just goose studies in Scotland but also important work on the breeding ducks at Loch Leven, the Nature Conservancy, which was grant-aiding the research of WWT, suggested that Hugh be seconded to their Scottish Office in Edinburgh. While this may have made administrative sense, it was not Hugh's happiest period, perhaps exemplified by the instruction from the deputy director in his first week that ‘We wear jackets and ties in this office’, something which rather went against the grain of Hugh's normal informality. At any rate, when he was head-hunted in 1967 by the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) he did not take too long to decide that this was an opportunity not to be missed (I was staying at his Edinburgh home when he received a phone call from Gus Cooch increasing the salary being offered for the second time!). Hugh's first post with the CWS in Ottawa was as Research Supervisor of Migratory Birds in Eastern and Arctic Canada. Over the next 8 years, Hugh expanded CWS's former concentration on wildfowl to take in seabirds, shorebirds and landbirds, appointing Dick Brown and David Nettleship to undertake research and monitoring of seabirds, Guy Morrison to do the same for shorebirds and Tony Erskine to look after landbirds. He also offered whole-hearted support to Fred Cooke's long-term study of Snow Geese Anser caerulescens at James Bay. In 1975, Hugh became Director of Migratory Birds for CWS, and in this role initiated numerous key monitoring schemes and international management plans for waterbirds and seabirds, including in cooperation with the USA, and was instrumental in persuading the Canadian government to sign the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance. This post lasted until 1980, whereafter Hugh became, successively, Senior Policy Advisor, Senior Scientist, Acting Director (Ontario Region), and Chief of Migratory Bird Research. Although he officially retired in March 1991, he was almost immediately appointed Scientist Emeritus, and continued, even extended, his fieldwork, particularly on geese in the Arctic. He also continued a steady output of important papers, together with editing CWS reports. Hugh has been honoured for his scientific and conservation achievement. In 1992, he was made a Research Associate of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust for his encouragement of young scientists within that organization. In 1996, the Director-General of WWT, together with Lady Scott, awarded him the Peter Scott Medal for his exceptional contributions to wildfowl and wetland conservation on two continents. The Society of Canadian Ornithologists’ most prestigious Doris Huestis Speirs Award was presented to him in 1997 to honour his outstanding contribution to Canadian ornithology. And recognition came from the Canada Government with his appointment as a Member of the Order of Canada, an honour which recognizes outstanding achievement and service to the nation. Hugh was largely instrumental in starting and developing waterfowl research and monitoring, leading to conservation and management in Britain and elsewhere in Europe, and then overseeing the huge expansion of all bird conservation and management in Canada, linking it to similar work in the USA. In meetings, he could sometimes seem diffident about expressing his views, until one realized just how cogent and important they were. In informal surroundings as in the field, he was modest, kind and generous. After he moved to Canada, he continued to correspond with and advise me, as we jointly wrote a number of papers. All I had to do was to decipher his notoriously tiny handwriting. His keen sense of humour stayed with him to the end. What might seem a normal presentation or discussion would be interrupted by a quiet snigger as Hugh saw the funny side of something long before anyone else. In 2005, my wife and I met with Hugh in Iceland to celebrate his 80th birthday, which we did together with many ornithologists from Iceland and other countries. On his 90th birthday, I visited him in Ottawa, where he had been in a long-term care home for some while. When I reminded him that we had been together for his 80th birthday and handed him his 90th birthday card, he opened it, looked at it a moment, then turned to me and said, with just a hint of a smile, ‘I wouldn't bother coming back in 10 years’ time’. Sadly that won't happen, but my fond memories of him remain, while his legacy of major contributions (including nearly 200 publications) to ornithological research and conservation in the northern hemisphere will be his lasting memorial.

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