Vale Evan Thomas

I saw on Twitter that Evan Thomas of Barham, NSW, died at the age of 91
recently. Evan had the most incredible collection of waterbird slides taken
during the 70s and 80s. Evan and fellow-birdwatcher Peter Disher spent days
and days wearing waders wandering around the riverine swamps of the Murray
River. His slides show numerous birds, such as Painted Snipe or Little
Bittern through the stages of next-construction, egg-laying, through to
fledging. Most of us can hardly find the bird – he sat and watched them
through their life-cycle. Peter and Evan had a falling-out later on when one
of them forgot to notify the other of a rarity in the district and so he
missed out on a lifer.

In later years, he seemed to get bored with ornithology and took up lawn
bowls instead. He did make the occasional observation from the bowling green
of unusual sightings.

Geoff Leslie