Reg Thorpe

Reg has been watching birds since the late 1960s, with identification rapidly becoming a major interest. In developing his identification skills, he has travelled extensively in the UK as well as making many trips to Asia, Europe, North America and North Africa, since his first major trip overland to Turkey in 1976. China, Morocco and the eastern Mediterranean are among his personal favourite destinations. Currently, he is the chairman of the Welsh Records Panel and has served a term on the British Birds Rarities Committee, for which he still acts as a summariser of the committee’s deliberations on records. Reg has worked for the RSPB since leaving school, initially as a reserve warden, but since 1999 he has managed the RSPB species recovery, advisory and monitoring work in Wales, where he now lives.