PETE BASTERFIELD
1934–2023
 Pete at High Island, Texas |
How do you even begin to describe a character like Pete? Anyone who knew him will know that he was truly one of a kind: a mine of funny anecdotes; somebody who loved to be around people; a keen gardener; a former cyclist who still took great pleasure in watching the grand tours on TV; a man who would gleefully put half a dozen sachets of sugar in his coffee and had no time for modern-day, 16-option coffee menus! He would gladly offer help to anybody if he could, which made him a natural leader.
Pete first met Vaughan through the Bath RSPB group in the 1970s. Pete was a founding member of the group and, over the years, held many committee positions and led many group outings for them. I vividly remember watching a stunning male Bearded Tit at Radipole Lake with him, and having a fit of the giggles when somebody pulled out some white hankies and started waving them frantically on a Nightjar outing. He was very proud to receive a badge in honour of fifty years’ membership of the Society from then-President Miranda Krestovnikoff in 2019. Pete was always a great believer in belonging to conservation bodies as a birder – “giving back” he used to call it.
It was on the Isles of Scilly that Pete’s love of birding and photography really took off. In the days before smartphones and widespread SLR ownership, Pete was one of a small number of photographers who would photograph the rarities on the islands and sell copies of the prints to birders as a record of “their lifers”. He loved the place, particularly St Agnes, which he always said was his favourite island, and knew every nook and cranny like the back of his hand. He visited many, many times, meeting most of his life-long birding friends and acquaintances there. His son Ewan, also a keen birder, regularly used to join Pete and Vaughan on their visits to the islands, and we were entertained many a time with tales of pranks played and stories that have gone down in Scillies folklore.
With the creation of Birdfinders in the mid-1990s, Pete’s people skills were an obvious fit, and Vaughan called on him to co-lead some of the tours, particularly to North America in the early years. Pete was in his element, and I’ve no doubt there will be many people reading this who will remember with great fondness the cries of, “It’s in my scope if anyone still needs it”. And you always knew Pete’s scope – it was the one with the bright green tape covering the pipe lagging on the legs! Although an avid photographer and obviously keen to take pictures of the bird, Pete was always scrupulously careful to make sure that every customer was happy with their views before he even attempted to creep any closer. He described most of his pictures from tours as “grab shots”, although he took many wonderful images over the years, lots of which graced the Birdfinders stand at the Birdfair and the back cover of our brochures.
The annual Birdfair at Rutland Water was another of Pete’s great loves. An opportunity to catch up with old friends, reminisce and help customers with queries (as well as the copious amounts of apple pies and jam tarts!) brought him great joy. He particularly enjoyed wandering around the Art marquee every year, and would invariably come back to the stand marvelling at a sculpture he’d seen. On one memorable occasion, Pete was asked to take part in one of the quizzes at the Fair, and was placed on the same team as Chris Packham. As I recall, they lost narrowly, but Pete was thrilled to be asked.
As the years passed, Pete’s portfolio of tour leading and co-leading experience expanded, and he visited Hungary, Poland, Israel, Morocco, the Canary Islands, Extremadura, The Gambia, Lesvos, northern India, California, Colorado, Arizona, Texas and the rainforest of Brazil on behalf of Birdfinders. He was particularly delighted to see not one but five tigers in Ranthambore reserve, after seeing nothing more than pug marks on several private trips.
He also took numerous family holidays, which he invariably turned into birding trips. He would wax lyrical for hours about the pelagic off Kaikoura in New Zealand for albatrosses and seabirds, and he adored O’Reilly’s in Australia. If you asked Pete what his favourite family of birds was, he would always say the bowerbirds.
Sadly, the last tour he co-led for us, to Goa in India, was destined to end much less happily. A bus mounted the pavement that Pete was standing on and he was knocked to the ground, suffering multiple nasty injuries and coming home black and blue. He always considered himself fortunate that he wasn’t killed.
Combined with the onset of Parkinson’s Disease, which many believe may have been triggered by the accident, Pete’s leading days were brought to a premature halt. He was devastated, but he continued to print the pictures for the Birdfair and remained a regular on the stand right up until 2019 – the last one at Rutland Water.
As his Parkinson’s progressed, Pete moved into a single-storey, self-contained granny annexe, which he always referred to as “the shed,” in the garden of Ewan and his family’s house in Bath. Later, he moved into a home, but was still active on email and spoke to Vaughan just a few days before he passed away.
Pete lived a long and fulfilled life. He had a career in haematology that enabled him to exercise his natural curiosity and gift for helping people; he was lucky enough to travel widely; and he had a lovely family who adored him. His great passions were birding, photography and postal history, and he excelled at all of them. He made many, many friends in all sorts of disciplines over the years, and he never failed to look happy to see any of them again. From all of us lucky enough to have known you Pete, a heartfelt thank you. There may be no more jokes for us to share, no more memories to make, but those we all treasure are priceless.
 Cairngorms 1982 |
 Pete at the Birdfair |
 Pete in the Birdfair quiz |
 Pete on the Scillies |
 Pete on the Farnes |
 Pete at Neal's Lodges, Texas |
 Pete helping fix a broken windscreen in Texas |
 Pete and Vaughan, Texas 2001 |