Ian Wallace (ornithologist)

D. Ian M. Wallace
Born
Donald Ian Mackenzie Wallace

(1933-12-14)14 December 1933
Norfolk, England
Died4 November 2021(2021-11-04) (aged 87)
Other names
  • Ian Wallace
  • D.I.M. Wallace
  • DIMW
Known forConcise edition (BWPC) of The Birds of the Western Palearctic

Donald Ian Mackenzie Wallace (14 December 1933 – 4 November 2021), known as Ian Wallace, D.I.M. Wallace,[1][2][3] or by his initials DIMW,[4] was a British birder, author and artist.

Early life[edit]

Wallace was born on 14 December 1933 in Norfolk, England, to Scottish parents. He was educated at Loretto School, near Edinburgh.[5] Early in the 1950s, he undertook National Service with the King's African Rifles in Kenya.[5]

Career[edit]

Wallace was the second chairman of the British Birds Rarities Committee[6] and was a contributing author to The Birds of the Western Palearctic.

In 1963, Wallace was among a party of birders,[7] led by Guy Mountfort[8] and including Julian Huxley,[8] George Shannon[7] and, James Ferguson-Lees,[7] that made the first ornithological expedition to Azraq in Jordan.[7] The expedition's recommendations eventually led to the creation of the Azraq Wetland Reserve and other protected areas.[9] Papers from the expedition are in the United Kingdom's National Archives.[10] He identified at least four species previously unknown in Nigeria.[11]

He was the Honorary Life President of Flamborough Ornithological Group (since 2000), and of Flamborough Bird Observatory.[12]

Wallace appeared as a guest on BBC Radio 4's Saving Species, discussing his October 1960 observations of the visible migration of birds over London, on their 50th anniversary.[13]

He was described as "one of the very top ornithologists in the UK",[14] "one of the great names of British bird-watching",[15] by the BBC as "a pioneer of ornithology [in the United Kingdom]",[13] and by Mark Cocker as both "one of the godfathers of modern birding"[4] and "the grand old man of birds".[16]

Wallace lived in Staffordshire. He died on 4 November 2021, at the age of 87.[17][18][5] A five-page obituary was published in British Birds.[19]

Bibliography[edit]

  • Discover Birds, Deutsch (1979), ISBN 0-233-97100-9
  • Birdwatching In The Seventies, Macmillan (1981), ISBN 0-333-30026-2
  • Watching birds (illustrated by Alan Harris, Ian Jackson), Usborne (1982), ISBN 0-86020-655-6
  • Birds of Prey of Britain and Europe (paintings by Ian Willis), Oxford University Press (1983). ISBN 0-19-217729-X
  • Beguiled by Birds, Christopher Helm (2004), ISBN 0-7136-6535-1 (publishers' page)

Contributions[edit]

As illustrator[edit]

  • Wood, J. Duncan (2003). Horace Alexander: 1889 to 1989: Birds and Binoculars. York: William Sessions Limited. ISBN 1-85072-289-7.

Significant articles[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "The Top 100 iPad Apps: Birds of Britain and Ireland (Pro Edition)". 2010. Archived from the original on 22 February 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  2. ^ Wallace, D.I.M. (31 October 1998). "Musselburgh - Ian Wallace reminiscences 1947-51". Archived from the original on 17 October 2006. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  3. ^ "Beguiled by Birds - Ian Wallace on British Birdwatching". WildSounds. Archived from the original on 19 July 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  4. ^ a b Cocker, Mark (18 September 2004). "Review: A Bird in the Bush and Beguiled by Birds". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  5. ^ a b c "Ian Wallace, ornithologist and illustrator who with his books and articles won the affection of birdwatchers of all ages – obituary". The Telegraph. 12 November 2021. (subscription required)
  6. ^ Dean, Alan R. (2007). "The British Birds Rarities Committee: a review of its history, publications and procedures". British Birds. 100 (3): 149–176.
  7. ^ a b c d "Slimbridge gathering for veterans of British birding". British Birds. 19 April 2012. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  8. ^ a b Dronamraju, Krishna R. (1993). If I Am to be Remembered: The Life and Work of Julian Huxley with Selected Correspondence. World Scientific. ISBN 9789810211424.
  9. ^ "Protected Areas". Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature. Jordan. Archived from the original on 30 July 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  10. ^ "Access to Archives, ref EMN/Box 5". National Archives. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  11. ^ "Bulletin of the Nigerian Ornithological Society, Volume 6, 1969". West African Ornithological Society. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  12. ^ "Honorary Life President". Flamborough Bird Observatory. Archived from the original on 14 April 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  13. ^ a b "Saving Species, Series 1, Episode 25". BBC Online. BBC. 21 October 2010. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  14. ^ Wilson, Colin (29 July 2005). ""Bird-watching before Birding" by Ian Wallace". Berkshire Ornithological Club. Archived from the original on 14 October 2007. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  15. ^ ""Bird-watching before Birding" by Ian Wallace". 3 August 2005. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  16. ^ Cocker, Mark (8 February 2011). "Grumpy old men?". Birdwatch. Archived from the original on 21 August 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  17. ^ Avery, Mark. "DIM Wallace, 1933–2021". Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  18. ^ Ian ‘DIM’ Wallace, 1933–2021
  19. ^ McGeehan, Anthony (April 2022). "Obituaries: Ian (D. I. M.) Wallace". British Birds. 115 (4): 225–229.

External links[edit]

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