Roger Geoffrey Clarke (8 July 1952 – 28 January 2007), was an English

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

and world authority on harriers and other

birds of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predato ...

.Obituary in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

'', 13 February 2007Obituary in ''British Birds'', April 2007, pp. 251–254
/ref>

Early life

Roger Geoffrey Clarke was born on 8 July 1952 in

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. He was educated at

Bedford Modern School Bedford Modern School (often called BMS) is a Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference independent school in Bedford, England. The school has its origins in The Harpur Trust, born from the endowments left by Sir William Harpur in the s ...

and later qualified as a Chartered Accountant which he practiced for the rest of his life while still pursuing his main interest as an

. Clarke was said to have been 'vaguely interested in birds from his youth' but he was keener on playing lead guitar in a rock band until hearing damage ended his musical career. It was in fact a love of angling that steered him towards

ornithology Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

. In 1981 he moved to

Reach Reach or REACH may refer to: Companies and organizations * Reach plc, formerly Trinity Mirror, large British newspaper, magazine, and digital publisher * Reach Canada, an NGO in Canada * Reach Limited, an Asia Pacific cable network company * ...

to fish pike and bream and would watch hen harriers hunting over the landscape.

Ornithological work

Marsh harrier (Circus aeruginosus) female

Two years later he teamed up with the artist Donald Watson to develop the UK Hen Harrier Winter Roost Survey. The thesis for Clarke's

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in biological sciences, awarded by the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

in 1999, was on bird of prey feeding ecology. Working for the University of Aberdeen, Clarke focused on

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) nort ...

hen harrier feeding. He also contributed to the controversial Joint Raptor Study Langholm Project, studying the predation of

red grouse The red grouse (''Lagopus lagopus scotica'') is a medium-sized bird of the grouse family which is found in heather moorland in Great Britain and Ireland. It is usually classified as a subspecies of the willow ptarmigan but is sometimes consid ...

by hen harriers and

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a cosmopolitan bird of prey ( raptor) in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-grey ...

s in southwest

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 ...

's border country. Clarke's reputation took him to

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

to study the world's largest harrier roosts for the

Bombay Natural History Society The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), founded on 15 September 1883, is one of the largest non-governmental organisations in India engaged in conservation and biodiversity research. It supports many research efforts through grants and pub ...

. He subsequently worked on a project that successfully reintroduced

red kite The red kite (''Milvus milvus'') is a medium-large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other Diurnality, diurnal Bird of prey, raptors such as eagles, buzzards, and harrier (bird), harriers. The species currently b ...

s to several English regions. Clarke's first book, Harriers of the British Isles, appeared in 1990. It was followed by The Marsh Harrier (1995) and Montagu's Harrier (1996). He was co-editor of Biology and Conservation of Small Falcons in 1993 and during the final months before his early death he worked on the second edition of The Hen Harrier, adding to the first edition written by Watson. Clarke was treasurer of the

British Ornithologists' Union The British Ornithologists' Union (BOU) aims to encourage the study of birds (" ornithology") and around the world, in order to understand their biology and to aid their conservation. The BOU was founded in 1858 by Professor Alfred Newton, ...

(2000–06). He also looked after the accounts of the Society of Wildlife Artists (SWLA), whose then president, Bruce Pearson, was among his friends. His collection of more than 200 works of

wildlife Wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous to game: those birds and mammals that were hunted f ...

art formed part of a SWLA exhibition staged at the Mall Galleries,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 2007.

Personal life

The weekend before Clarke's death, Pearson took him five miles into the heart of the fens. Hen and marsh harriers floated into view over the marshes, a final encounter with two bird species that had inspired his ornithological career. Clarke was survived by his wife, Janis, and by a son and daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Roger Geoffrey 1952 births 2007 deaths English ornithologists Alumni of the University of Liverpool People educated at Bedford Modern School People from Bedford 20th-century British zoologists