Robert "Bobby" John Tulloch MBE (4 January 1929 – 21 May 1996) was a naturalist from the

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

Islands, in the north of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

. Bobby Tulloch was born on a croft at Aywick on the eastern side of

Yell A yell is a loud vocalization; see screaming. Yell may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Yell, Shetland, one of the North Isles of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland * Yell Sound, Shetland, Scotland United States * Yell, Tennessee, an unin ...

, as the oldest of four children, and lived much of his life in the village of Mid Yell. He served

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

. Tulloch started as an apprentice baker with his brother-in-law and remained in the trade until 1964, when after meeting

George Waterston George Waterston OBE FRSE FZS LLD (10 April 1911 – 30 September 1980) was a 20th-century Scottish stationer , ornithologist and conservationist. From 1949 to 1954 he owned the remote Scottish island, Fair Isle. He founded the Inverleith Field ...

of the

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a charitable organisation registered in England and Wales and in Scotland. It was founded in 1889. It works to promote conservation and protection of birds and the wider environment throu ...

(RSPB), he was appointed as RSPB warden in Shetland. He was especially associated with the

snowy owl The snowy owl (''Bubo scandiacus''), also known as the polar owl, the white owl and the Arctic owl, is a large, white owl of the true owl family. Snowy owls are native to the Arctic regions of both North America and the Palearctic, breeding mos ...

s that started breeding on the island of

Fetlar Fetlar ( sco, Fetlar) is one of the North Isles of Shetland, Scotland, with a usually resident population of 61 at the time of the 2011 census. Its main settlement is Houbie on the south coast, home to the Fetlar Interpretive Centre. Fetlar is ...

in 1967. He featured in a number of

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

Natural History Unit programmes, including a personal recounting of his discovery of the snow owls nesting on Fetlar, originally broadcast in 1974 on the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...

programme ''

The Living World ''The Living World'' is a long-running natural history radio programme, made by the BBC and broadcast on its Radio 4. The series was created at the BBC Natural History Unit by Dilys Breese and Derek Jones, initially as a 52-week series, in 1 ...

'' and rebroadcast by

Lindsey Chapman Lindsey Katherine Chapman (born ) is an English television and radio presenter. Career Chapman, the daughter of a teacher and a rural developer, was educated at Lockington primary school and Beverley High School before studying Drama and The ...

in 2019. (First broadcast in 1974.) (First broadcast in 1974.) Bobby Tulloch was an artist, boatman, musician, naturalist, photographer, storyteller and writer. In 1994, he was awarded an MBE. He was nicknamed "Tucker" by his friends. He has been described as one of Shetland's "greatest-ever ambassadors". A book of reminiscences about Bobby Tulloch, ''Bobby the Birdman'', was published in 2016.

Selected books

* Bobby Tulloch and Fred Hunter, ''Guide to Shetland Birds''.

The Shetland Times ''The Shetland Times'' is a weekly newspaper in Shetland, published on Fridays and based in Lerwick, the main town in the Shetland Islands Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Sc ...

, 1979. . Paperback. * Bobby Tulloch, ''Bobby Tulloch's Shetland: An islander, his islands and their wildlife''.

Macmillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...

, 1988. . Hardcover. (Introduction by

Lord Grimond Joseph Grimond, Baron Grimond, (; 29 July 1913 – 24 October 1993), known as Jo Grimond, was a British politician, leader of the Liberal Party for eleven years from 1956 to 1967 and again briefly on an interim basis in 1976. Grimond was a lo ...

.) * Bobby Tulloch, ''Migrations: Travels of a Naturalist''.

Kyle Cathie Kyle or Kyles may refer to: Places Canada * Kyle, Saskatchewan, Canada Ireland * Kyle, County Laois * Kyle, County Wexford Scotland * Kyle, Ayrshire, area of Scotland which stretched across parts of modern-day East Ayrshire and South Ayrshi ...

, 1991. . Hardcover. * Bobby Tulloch, ''Otters''. Worldlife Library S., Colin Baxter Photography, 1994/1999. . Paperback.

References

External links

Bobby Tulloch website
including

1929 births 1996 deaths People from Yell, Shetland 20th-century naturalists 20th-century Scottish musicians Scottish naturalists Scottish ornithologists Scottish non-fiction writers British nature writers Members of the Order of the British Empire Shetland music {{Scotland-scientist-stub