Obituary

Jeff became the world's foremost authority on Golden Eagles. He acquired personal knowledge of most of their nesting territories in Scotland, and bolstered this experience with visits to other parts of the bird's world range to advise on conservation and management issues. Raised in rural Galloway, southwest Scotland, Jeff's interest in birds was inspired by his father, bird artist and ornithologist Donald Watson. Jeff attended the local Primary School at Dalry, Edinburgh Academy, and Aberdeen University where he took an honours degree in zoology, graduating in 1974. Moving to the Seychelles, he spent 4 years researching the endemic Seychelles Kestrel, for which he was awarded a doctorate by Aberdeen University in 1977. This led to work on these islands for the WWF, on the conservation of various endangered, endemic landbirds, notably the Seychelles Magpie Robin and Seychelles Paradise Flycatcher, for which he drafted conservation action plans subsequently put in place. This was pioneering work because Jeff undertook some of the very first translocations of birds between islands in an attempt to move birds into habitats in which they would fare well. The approach was contentious, but Jeff was never one to shirk what he thought was the right thing to do. His work in the Seychelles continued intermittently for a further 30 years, and will feature prominently in a forthcoming book on the conservation of the Seychelles. On his return to Britain, Jeff worked for a short time for the Scottish Wildlife Trust. But in 1981 he won a dream job with Britain's Nature Conservancy Council – researching Golden Eagles, and in particular the impacts of land uses such as forestry, farming and red deer management. This developed into a pioneering study of Golden Eagles in nine ecological regions, which set the highest of standards for understanding the effects of land uses on raptors. Following in the footsteps of the great eagle observers such as H. B. Macpherson, Seton Gordon and Adam Watson, Jeff had the essential skills for observing these elusive birds – tenacity, robustness, patience, single-minded determination and, perhaps most of all, contentment with weeks of solitude. His research base in the Highlands was, for several years, a camper van, and with his wife, Vanessa, he tramped hundreds of miles each year, often following straight transects over precipitous mountain features. His book The Golden Eagle (1997), published in the Poyser/Academic Press monograph series, was lauded throughout the world. Beautifully written, it was translated into a Japanese edition in 2007. The book and Jeff's more recent research spawned a rich seam of research papers on the conservation and population ecology of Golden Eagles in Scotland (including DNA fingerprinting of much of the breeding population), and a conservation framework for the species which will be published this year. Gravely ill, but up until days before his death, Jeff corresponded with workers in Kazakhstan, the Republic of Ireland (where he kept a keen eye on the on-going reintroduction programme, which has benefited from the donation of chicks from Scottish Highland eyries Jeff had watched for many years), Alaska, Idaho, and the Appalachian mountain ridges of eastern North America from Labrador to Tennessee – along which satellite tagged eagles are being watched. During the last 10 years, Jeff held down the challenging role of Director of Operations (North) in Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). He had lead responsibility for the designation, conservation and management of Scotland's internationally important Special Protection Areas and Special Areas of Conservation. He led the agency's work which overhauled Scotland's series of National Nature Reserves, and directed an ambitious monitoring programme to assess the condition of habitats, species and landforms across Scotland's protected areas. The recent series of Scotland's European Special Protected Areas (SPAs) classified for raptors are an especially fine legacy, which involved SNH working closely with land managers, raptor fieldworkers and the RSPB. Jeff also led the SNH team which worked closely with the Scottish Executive in support of the passage of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004, giving rise to wildlife conservation legislation that has set new standards for the rest of Europe. He represented the UK as a Council Member of Eurosite, and was a Trustee of the National Biodiversity Network. An outstanding photographer, Jeff produced evocative landscape pictures which have been compared favourably with the brilliant hill and raptor paintings by his father. Despite all of these accomplishments, Jeff remained modest, indeed humble, and was genuinely embarrassed if praise came his way. His dealings with the politics of conservation were, at times, troubling, and he often spoke of the agonies of compromising in the face of development pressure. But many tough battles were won, often with Jeff martialling his facts calmly and by disarming those around him with lateral thinking and cogent arguments. Tragically, his toughest battle was with cancer, which he lost on 19 September 2007 after a courageous and determined fight, during which he showed supreme dignity. Jeff dedicated a third of his shortened life to the pursuit of Golden Eagles, and just days before he passed away somehow managed to pen the Preface for the forthcoming second edition of his Golden Eagle monograph. He was awarded the prestigious Conservation Medal by the RSPB in recognition of outstanding work in nature conservation, and was thrilled to receive it in person from his mentor, Ian Newton. An accolade for exceptional work on raptors, in the names of Donald and Jeff Watson, is to be awarded occasionally by the Scottish Raptor Study Groups. He was a brilliant observer, an accomplished senior public servant, a distinguished scientist and a warm, kind and generous human being. He excelled as a teacher of young people in the art and science of natural history. He was patient and kind, gentle and persuasive, and so skilled that you were lured into his world of nature. I remember Jeff as happy, chuckling, effervescent and wildly enthusiastic about the things he was seeing and hearing in the field, and completely at ease with wild nature. Jeff is survived by his wife Vanessa and son Ronan, and sisters Pamela, Kate and Louise, who cherish special family days watching Golden Eagles amongst the rugged mountain spires of the Scottish Highlands.

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