Author, photographer, guide, naturalist, teacher, Peter Steyn is a humble yet immense presence in southern African birding, from his school days at Diocesan College to his years at Falcon College, Zimbabwe, and on to his long association with the Cape Bird Club (CBC). The instinct to share and educate has never diminished for Peter. After a presentation on birds and photography at a local school, the teacher in charge wrote, ‘Steyn had the matrics amazed at his quoting from Hamlet to answer questions.’
Birders today have a wide variety of resources available to them and I often get the sense that I am walking a well-trodden path, putting my eye to a scope set up for me and ticking a bird well laid out in the published guides, with additional flight shots and arrows pointing to key identification features. Peter is one of those whose photographs helped to populate that guide and whose constant observational studies dating back to the journal Bokmakierie in 1951 flesh out the descriptions of nesting habits, prey and general behaviour. Peter’s work is characterised by monk-like patience, sharp observation, and careful notetaking.
You have had a profound influence on ornithology through not only your own observations and books but also through your mentorship and encouragement of others who are now established, ornithologists. At what point did you find your own interest in birds developing into guiding, teaching and mentorship? Is there a particular experience or trip where you saw your own passions influencing the work and ideas of others?
This story is from the July/August 2021 edition of African Birdlife.
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This story is from the July/August 2021 edition of African Birdlife.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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