Robert "Bobby" John Tulloch

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(4 January 1929 – 21 May 1996) was a naturalist from the

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

Islands, in the north of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. Bobby Tulloch was born on a

croft Croft may refer to: Occupations * Croft (land), a small area of land, often with a crofter's dwelling * Crofting, small-scale food production * Bleachfield, an open space used for the bleaching of fabric, also called a croft Locations In the Uni ...

Aywick Aywick is a small settlement on the east side of Yell, Shetland, Yell, an island forming part of the Shetland Islands north of Scotland. The naturalist Bobby Tulloch was born and grew up in Aywick. References External links Canmore - Hunter: ...

on the eastern side of

Yell A yell is a loud vocalization; see screaming. Yell may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Yell, Shetland, one of the North Isles of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland * Yell Sound, Shetland, Scotland United States * Yell, Tennessee, an unin ...

, as the oldest of four children, and lived much of his life in the village of

Mid Yell Mid Yell is a coastal settlement on the island of Yell, the second largest of Shetland Islands Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands ...

. He served

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. Tulloch started as an apprentice baker with his brother-in-law and remained in the trade until 1964, when after meeting

George Waterston George Waterston OBE FRSE FZS LLD (10 April 1911 – 30 September 1980) was a 20th-century Scottish stationer , ornithologist and conservationist. From 1949 to 1954 he owned the remote Scottish island, Fair Isle. He founded the Inverleith Fi ...

of the

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a charitable organisation registered in England and Wales and in Scotland. It was founded in 1889. It works to promote conservation and protection of birds and the wider environment throug ...

(RSPB), he was appointed as RSPB warden in Shetland. He was especially associated with the

snowy owl The snowy owl (''Bubo scandiacus''), also known as the polar owl, the white owl and the Arctic owl, is a large, white owl of the true owl family. Snowy owls are native to the Arctic regions of both North America and the Palearctic, breeding mos ...

s that started breeding on the island of

Fetlar Fetlar ( sco, Fetlar) is one of the North Isles of Shetland, Scotland, with a usually resident population of 61 at the time of the 2011 census. Its main settlement is Houbie on the south coast, home to the Fetlar Interpretive Centre. Fetlar is ...

in 1967. He featured in a number of

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

Natural History Unit programmes, including a personal recounting of his discovery of the snow owls nesting on Fetlar, originally broadcast in 1974 on the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

programme ''

The Living World ''The Living World'' is a long-running natural history radio programme, made by the BBC and broadcast on its Radio 4. The series was created at the BBC Natural History Unit by Dilys Breese and Derek Jones, initially as a 52-week series, in 19 ...

'' and rebroadcast by Lindsey Chapman in 2019. (First broadcast in 1974.) (First broadcast in 1974.) Bobby Tulloch was an artist, boatman, musician, naturalist, photographer, storyteller and writer. In 1994, he was awarded an

. He was nicknamed "Tucker" by his friends. He has been described as one of Shetland's "greatest-ever ambassadors". A book of reminiscences about Bobby Tulloch, ''Bobby the Birdman'', was published in 2016.

Selected books

* Bobby Tulloch and Fred Hunter, ''Guide to Shetland Birds''.

The Shetland Times ''The Shetland Times'' is a weekly newspaper in Shetland, published on Fridays and based in Lerwick, the main town in the Shetland Islands Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Sco ...

, 1979. . Paperback. * Bobby Tulloch, ''Bobby Tulloch's Shetland: An islander, his islands and their wildlife''.

Macmillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...

, 1988. . Hardcover. (Introduction by Lord Grimond.) * Bobby Tulloch, ''Migrations: Travels of a Naturalist''. Kyle Cathie, 1991. . Hardcover. * Bobby Tulloch, ''Otters''. Worldlife Library S., Colin Baxter Photography, 1994/1999. . Paperback.

References

External links

Bobby Tulloch website
including

1929 births 1996 deaths People from Yell, Shetland 20th-century naturalists 20th-century Scottish musicians Scottish naturalists Scottish ornithologists Scottish non-fiction writers British nature writers Members of the Order of the British Empire Shetland music {{Scotland-scientist-stub