David Saunders has been a stalwart of Welsh and UK ornithology for more than sixty years. When he was appointed Skomer’s first Warden in 1960 this began a lifelong association with Pembrokeshire, from where he organised the first ever census of the breeding seabirds of the British Isles, Operation Seafarer in the late 1960s. For 20 years he was Director of the West Wales Trust for Nature Conservation, and Honorary Warden of Grassholm. He helped to initiate the Pembrokeshire Bird Report and is a prolific lecturer and author, including Where to Watch Birds in Wales, The Birds of Pembrokeshire and Seabirds of Britain and Ireland. He was created an MBE for his services to conservation and was the first President of WOS and the Society deservedly presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.
A fuller appreciation of his work will appear later. If you wish to mark his passing, donations can be made in his memory to The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales at:
https://www.welshwildlife.org/