The American Project

Tuesday 8^th April David Boag

David needed no introduction as we have welcomed him to the group on a number of occasions when he has delighted us with his enthusiasm for wildlife and entertained us with his inimitable presentation and unique sense of humour.

He explained how “The American Project” came about as a result of his initial commission for a major quarrying company to write a book based upon the wildlife of quarries across Great Britain. He told us how he was then asked to turn his attention to some of the more remote areas across five major regions of the United States including Alaska, Florida Everglades, and the Grand Canyon, and to put it all into one book! It was quite a daunting prospect for someone who had never been to America. It was scary and proved to be a very steep learning curve working in a country where buzzards are called “hawks”, dragonflies are known as “saddlebacks” and butterflies are “backeyes”. A country where there are no rabbits but plenty of “cottontails” or “scrubhares” and where hares are actually called “jack rabbits”.

David explained the shock of arriving the day after there had been 28 inches of snowfall to experience temperatures of -18 degrees. He noticed immediately how the snow made wildlife more tolerant of people and also how it made the signs of wildlife show up more easily.

David is to be congratulated on the superb quality of his photography and his clever attempts to animate it on occasions. We were impressed by stunning pictures of species such as mountain bluebird, red-winged blackbird, belted kingfisher and American avocet with its red head and the Californian quail with the stupid plume which seemed to obstruct its view. We all know about David’s passion for birds, but he explained how his favourite species of animal tended to be the wide variety of mammals of America such as the eastern chipmunks, squirrels and the very impressive big horns.

One evening was certainly not long enough for David to show all of his photographs. We thank him for a most entertaining and informative talk.

Chris Steel