In February, we were delighted to welcome the new Cape Clear Bird Observatory Warden to the BirdWatch Ireland team. John Horton has come to us from Alderney in the British Channel Islands, where he has spent that last 9 years establishing and developing the first new bird observatory in Britain & Ireland for decades. Alderney achieved national accreditation status in 2018.
Prior to this, John was in the Metropolitan Police in London, attracted by the chance to become a Wildlife Crime Investigations Officer combating the illegal trade in endangered species. His highly decorated police career included a ‘Commissioner’s award for excellence’ in the category of ‘Best thief-taker in the Met’. He secured a slot alongside high profile police units like mounted branch and fraud squad. From a prosecution for possession of an alligator (kept as a pet in a bath in a private home) to large scale operations with the London airports he says this work amongst other police roles was often demanding but occasionally very rewarding.
A highly experienced bird ringer, John has performed the role of ‘Ringing Course assessor’ for the BTO, he has taken part in ringing projects on five continents and cites the catching of a Spoon-billed Sandpiper in 1989 in south-west India as a memorable highlight. John was also the London bird recorder.
“Since the 1950’s bird observatories have been synonymous with excellence in ornithological research,” noted John. “Some of these twenty-one key sites situated around the coast of Britain and Ireland monitoring bird migration have near mythical status for birders, and for me Cape Clear falls firmly within this bracket, delivering standardised species recording and wowing the birdwatching world with sightings of exceptionally rare birds since 1959.
“I am delighted to join the BirdWatch Ireland team and extremely proud to be the warden of Ireland’s only accredited bird observatory, and to have the opportunity to build on the established foundations and progress the science and data gathered here on Cape, an important contributor to our international understanding of the human and environmental impacts on our birdlife.”
To follow John’s journey as the new CCBO Warden and for regular updates on the bird and wildlife sightings on Cape Clear, follow him on BlueSky.
