Bruce Campbell was an outstanding researcher and broadcaster, says Oxford Ornithological Society’s Keith Clack

In earlier articles I have introduced an Oxford student who became the father of ‘patch watching’ — Gilbert White — and one of Britain’s foremost politicians who gave his name to Oxford’s centre of ornithological excellence — Edward Grey.

Let’s add another.

Bruce Campbell was the son of an egg collector but to his skills of nest finding soon added birdwatcher, researcher, broadcaster and producer, author and promoter of birds and wildlife to the nation.

He was born in Hampshire in 1912 but spent almost half his life living in Oxfordshire until his passing, in Witney, in 1993.

Hugely active in the field, Campbell also had from an early age, excellent writing skills and eventually his notebooks and records would form the basis of an influential autobiography, Birdwatcher at Large.

He had already written his first radio script while still at school, and this stood him in great stead for the future as he progressed through the industry, firstly appearing in programmes including Birds in Britain and The Naturalist, moving on to presentation then production and finally as senior producer at the BBC natural history unit in Bristol.

Many believe he set the standard for the success of the unit and laid the foundations for the position and respect it garnered in later years.

His enthusiasm and skill was not only evident in his personal work. He met Gerald Thompson, one of the founders of Oxford Scientific Films and it was Campbell’s personality and enthusiasm that encouraged Thompson to pursue wildlife cinematography.

As a writer he produced many books either on his own or in collaboration with others and his 1985 Dictionary of Birds stood as a classic of the time. as did his 1959 Birdwatching for Beginners.

Although much influenced by his father, Campbell soon directed his field skills into fine research with projects on breeding birds in south Wales and pied flycatchers in the Forest of Dean, but he particularly loved Scotland and it's birds and was drawn back as often as he could.

In the late 1940s Campbell became interested in the German sound recordist, Ludwig Koch, and introduced his work to the British Trust for Ornithology and partly due to this, and his obvious ornithological skill, Campbell was appointed as the first full-time secretary to the BTO. There is little doubt that his drive, ability and personality were key factors in the trust becoming the immensely influential body it is today.

Campbell also left a personal legacy to natural history. His son, Robert,who had helped him revise A Guide to the Birds of the Coast in 1976, became one of the leading figures in one of the world’s finest publishers of natural science titles.

Bruce Campbell sits well amid my two previous greats.

While we have much to thank those great birding pioneers from the past, just to keep you all up to date, Farmoor has been the centre of birding attention recently with this beautiful black-throated diver gracing one of our high-profile county birding spots.

I have, along with a growing number of local birders, been charmed with the wonderful call of the cuckoo again as it once again returns to our shores, unfortunately in apparently in ever-decreasing numbers.