Bart (Bartallan John William) Atfield 1958-2004

 

With great sadness we report the untimely death of Bart Atfield, aged 46.

Bart was well known for his research into the recolonisation of Peregrines on the Sussex coast, including their first confirmed post war breeding in 1990.

He will be greatly missed by all of his friends and family for his cheerful disposition, eccentric ways and astounding breadth of interest.

His interest in wildlife began at boarding school, where he kept kestrels sparrowhawks, jackdaws and owls. He was once caught at 3am on the gymnasium roof, skinning a Badger. Bart was quick to point out, 'what was the teacher doing up on the gym roof at that time of the morning anyway' !

After leaving school his interest in falconry developed and he successfully bred Peregrines and hybrids by artificial insemination. However his greatest passion was the observation of wild Peregrines in East Sussex where he lived for most of his adult life.

 

 

Greatly inspired by the historic work of John-Walpole Bond and Derek Ratcliffe he made the study of the re-emergence of the Sussex Peregrine population his life's work.

Bart was co-founder of the Sussex Peregrine Study.

After an absence of over 35 years Peregrine falcons bred for the first time on the Sussex coast in 1990, During the following 10 years Bart made substantial and detailed records of the populations recovery to the stage where all possible previously known nesting sites were once more occupied. This must be the only study of its kind in the World.

Apart from the post pesticide era, when Peregrines were completely absent, the Sussex Peregrine Study data represents an unbroken record since the diaries of John Walpole Bond began his work in 1904.

Surely the diaries of Bart Atfield deserve their place in our understanding of Peregrine ecology.