Ian Hodgson, who died on 16^th September 2023, was brought up in Dover and lived in East Kent for all but the last two of his 72 years.

He attended Dover Grammar School, where he was once reprimanded for lack of attention only for the lesson to be interrupted to watch the waterspout that had distracted him. His first job was with Lloyd’s Bank before moving to Townsend Thoreson/P & O Ferries. After some years he was made redundant and worked for a pizza parlour, later moving to Canterbury, holding several jobs locally, always arranged to allow as much early morning birding as possible.

By today’s standards he was a late starter to birding, his first interest sparked by a Northern Wheatear on the clifftop sometime in his late twenties. Much of his early birding was at Sandwich Bay, in company with Trevor & Terry Wyatt.

Later he concentrated on his “patch” at South Foreland, in company at first with Tony Greenland, from 1977 to 2007, rarely travelling elsewhere in Kent or the UK, except for a few birdraces, in the days when they were popular and environmentally accepted, in Kent & France with David Tomlinson and even in New Jersey with Killian Mullarny and Mark Constantine. As well as his commitment to St Margaret’s, Ian always had time for survey work, where his precise record keeping was greatly valued, helping Andrew Henderson and the RSPB with studies at the Stour Estuary, Ouse Washes, Wales and elsewhere.

He had a particular affection for birding in Southeast Asia and India, and latterly in South & Central America, leading friendly groups on many trips. Butterflies too, became a fascination on visits to Eastern Europe, as did moths, revelling in the different species trapped at his Dorset home by comparison with those from Sandwich.

Never interested in “twitching”, his particular interest was bird migration and he was regularly on site at dawn for an hour or two of “vismig”, originally on the blockhouse below the South Foreland lighthouse and when that became too precarious for comfort because of cliff falls, at the top of the valley. Even when passage was slow, the conversation rarely flagged, with Bath & England rugby and England cricket usually providing plenty to moan about; and there was always travel to plan with birds or butterflies in mind, or even ballet or beer to discuss.

Highlights from those many hours must have included the Middle-Spotted Woodpecker on 15^th August 1995, a potential first for Britain that “got away” as BBRC and BOU would not accept a single observer record: in those days few and certainly not Ian, carried a camera. 1200 Ring Ousels on 7^th October 1998 must have been quite a sight too. Breeding birds were not ignored, with particular detail being gathered on the relatively short-lived colony of Marsh Warblers in the valley and nearby.

Every year Ian would produce a report on the birds of St Margaret’s, with longer term reviews in 1991 and 2002. As with so many similar documents, they make sad reading. 2000 Lesser Whitethroats in the valley on 28^th August 1979 remind us of the numbers we now miss, as do so many of the species counts for the earlier years.

John Clements has particular reason to thank Ian for his regular attendance at South Foreland, as when John suffered a heart attack whilst ringing one autumn morning in 2005, Ian recognised the severity of the situation, called an ambulance and then took the nets down before dealing with John’s car.

Ian was also much involved with the KOS: first contributing records in 1976, by the following year he was Area Recorder for East (1978-83),joint Editor of the KBR with Tim Hodge from 1985 to 88, both working together with Sally Hunter to ensure full tetrad coverage for the KOS Breeding Atlas of 1988-94.  Ian edited the KOS Newsletter in its then monthly print form from 1993 to 2004. His dry wit enlivened many KBR Aspects of the Year and Newsletters, Sandwich Bay Reports and blogs both from there and later from Dorset.

His genial character, field skills and meticulous record keeping led him to be head-hunted for the position of Warden at Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory in 2007, where he made a considerable impact, not only on the birds, but on all the biological records, bringing them all up to date after some years of neglect and producing reports for the missed years. His regular coverage of the estate encouraged others to spend more time in the field and later he worked hard to enable a smooth transition to Steffan Walton.

Returning to his usual spot at St Margaret’s on retirement from SBBO, the area was not the same; fewer birds, many more dogs and Ian’s eyesight and hearing were not as sharp as previously and his knees were telling of too many overs of fast bowling for Barns Close Cricket Club at Deal in his youth.       He and Karen moved to a lovely cottage in the Dorset countryside near Maiden Castle in May 2021, but the eye problem was diagnosed as cancer too late and in December 2022 he was given three months at best.

That he survived long enough to enjoy Wheatears, the Swallows that fledged from their outhouse, the Tour de France and the Ashes series he regarded as a bonus , passing away peacefully at home with Karen, his partner and wife of eighteen years, and their cat close by.