22 December 2008

The RSPB takes its hat off to a star performer
 
After 30 years in the business, Chris Durdin is saying farewell to the RSPB.
 
RSPB media man Chris, has decided to hang up his Public Affairs hat and concentrate his efforts on a more personal business venture – Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays.
 
Chris has worked across a variety of roles in his time with the RSPB. Back in 1986, he set up the protection scheme for the largest little tern colony in Britain, at Great Yarmouth, North Denes.  He has also spent time managing crane, stone-curlew and harrier projects. 
 
However, Chris is most widely known in his role as RSPB spokesman in Eastern England.  He has a wealth of experience as the public face of the RSPB and the voice on local radio giving expert bird and wildlife advice.
 
He has also been behind many of the RSPB’s publications in the region, including the Society’s ‘A Greener Future for the Broads’ document launched earlier this year, which set out the scale of the challenges facing Britain’s most important freshwater wetland.
 
At 52, some might be coasting towards retirement, but Chris sees it differently.
 
“For a long time I have been juggling RSPB work, running holidays and a busy family life,” he explained.
 
“My 30th anniversary of joining the RSPB staff was in August 1978. That’s quite a landmark and this felt like the right time for a new career.”
 
Richard Powell, Regional Director of the RSPB says, “Chris has been a real asset to the RSPB. He has done a wonderful job promoting the work of the charity and his experience of birds and wildlife has been invaluable. The commitment and dedication he has shown to his work really has been above and beyond! From his media and radio work, I think of him as Radio Norfolk's ‘Housewife’s Choice’, he has been a great ambassador for us. Chris as an ‘old style naturalist’ has a skill set that is in short
supply – we will miss him.”  
 
Less time behind a desk and more in the field studying wildlife is a priority and Chris is planning to lead more of the wildlife holidays that he organises.
 
The holidays are “much more than just birdwatching”, says Chris, with flowers, butterflies and other wildlife integrated into the itineraries, with an emphasis on home comforts, good food and wildlife close to home.
 
The holidays also contribute to conservation, with £35 per person on every holiday going to a conservation project in the country visited. This goes through the Honeyguide Wildlife Charitable Trust, of which Chris is Chairman, which has the added benefit of topping up the donations from the taxman through ‘gift aid’.
 
More than £50,000 has been contributed to conservation projects in this way, a total that Chris admits he is proud of.
 
Chris will continue to volunteer for the RSPB and will retain his slot at Radio Norfolk as its wildlife expert on The Morning Show.
 
Chris is married to Julie, lives in Thorpe St Andrew and has three sons aged 21, 8 and 5.
 
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Erica Howe – who takes over Chris’s RSPB media role as Communications Officer, asked Chris a few quick-fire questions.

Favourite food
Really ripe tomatoes with olive oil and a rustic local bread.

Best thing to do on a Saturday morning
I am the coach for the under sixes at Hillside Rovers Football Club. My youngest son, William, plays there with a super bunch of boys and parent helpers, which make it a great excuse to be up and active on a Saturday morning. Tough-tackling big brother Alex is a fixture in the under nines’ team.

Best wildlife experience in East Anglia
In December 2007, I had just run a media training course at the RSPB’s office in Snettisham village. It was four o’clock, nearly dusk, and as I went outside I could hear a murmuring, a gentle but swelling ‘wink wink’: the sound of a flock of pink-footed geese. I had an inkling this was a big flock so I called everyone from the office to come outside. At one stage there were, quite literally geese from one horizon to the other. Awesome!  Then another big flock came through – all heading for the Wash for their overnight roost.

Favourite holiday place
Naturally I love all the destinations in my Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays programme, but if I have to pick a favourite it’s Crete. There’s an area we call Spili bumps – more strictly the Kedros foothills above the small town of Spili – where in April there are up to 30 species of orchids. Bewildering and intoxicating in equal measure.
 
But family holidays have always – so far – been in the UK. It’s tough to find places that are nicer than Norfolk and within reasonably easy striking distance but we’re very fond of the Isle of Wight and loved Robin Hood’s Bay in North Yorkshire.

Favourite bird
The lammergeier or bearded vulture – Europe’s rarest and most spectacular bird of prey. But happily, it’s reasonably easy to see in the Pyrenees where it’s quebrantahuesos – bone-breaker – in Spanish or gypaète barbu in French.

Most extreme experience
Many years ago, I was in Peru and we went rather quickly from sea level to 15,000 feet in the Andes. Altitude sickness is something I won’t forget in a hurry: like a combination of the flu and a hangover. I went one night without sleep.
One thing you’d be surprised to know about Chris
I can juggle.

Favourite song
I love the Beach Boys and the pre-Beatles ‘Wake Up Little Susie’/’Lipstick On Your Collar’/’Hats Off To Larry’ rock and roll era. The latter is before my time, honestly, but has everlasting appeal. Fluffy music, my wife Julie calls it – but hey, I don’t mind. ‘Our song’ though has to be ‘Dance the Night Away’ by the Mavericks – great for modern jive or cha-cha-cha.