OD11 digital HR - Flipbook - Page 87
OBITUARIES
A LIFE IN FLIGHT
A pioneer of SA birding has migrated to the eternal summer
PETER STEYN
(1934-2024)
After matriculating, Peter studied
at UCT to be a teacher. In 1959, he
met and married Jenny Cannon,
sister of Paul Cannon (1953S). He
and Jenny spent five years in London
before moving to Falcon College in
Rhodesia. After “17 years of halcyon
days”, they moved back to Cape Town,
where Peter continued his career as
an ornithologist, photographer and
author. One of his daughters, Lindi
Worsley, wrote the following:
Adapted tribute by Dr Paul Murray
“A distinguished academic,
Peter Steyn (1954O) passed away
peacefully in Cape Town on 4 July
2024, at the age of 88, leaving his
wife Jenny and children Andrew,
Lindi and Sue, seven grandchildren
and three great-grandchildren.
Peter came to Western Province
Preparatory School in 1942 at age
six. He became interested in natural
history, collecting butterflies
and catching snakes. From there,
he turned to egg-collecting, the
start of his journey to becoming
a world-renowned and awardwinning ornithologist.
At school, Peter was a member
of both the Ornithological and the
Photographic societies. He regularly
told the story of the pair of Spotted
Eagle-owls that roosted in a massive
stone pine outside Founders, which
then nested in the Ogilvie clock
tower. The task of being the “altricial
owl”, to nurture them, fell to him…
Out of this experience came one of
his many publications, A Delight of
Owls. His passion for photographing
birds grew, as did his collection of
photographic equipment. This would
eventually be donated to the school
museum, and is now displayed along
with award-winning images, such as
one of a rare Verreaux’s Eagle.
inspirational teacher, gifted
photographer and highly
accomplished natural historian,
Peter was best known for his
massive contribution to the
world of ornithology… He began
as early as 1951 with a contribution
to Bokmakierie magazine, which
would be followed by hundreds,
if not thousands, of published
articles in journals, newsletters,
scientific texts and other authors’
books. As a field researcher, his
motto was ‘Observe and Deduce’.
“Peter was credited with some
140 cover photographs and more
than 1,100 photographs published
in scientific journals, as well as
innumerable photographs in
international publications.
“Peter’s lifetime contribution
to the world of ornithology was
recognised in 2011 when he was
awarded the Gill Memorial Medal
Award. In 2012, he received the
Birding took Peter into Africa and
abroad – to the islands of Mauritius,
Seychelles and Madagascar; to the
islands of Marion, Tristan da Cunha
and Gough aboard the research ship
SA Agulhas; and from the Arctic to
the Antarctic as a lecturer aboard
cruise ships.
He had a keen sense of humour
and was fond of reciting poetry,
sometimes in the form of a wicked
limerick or lines from his favourite
poems. He was a vice-president of
the ODU, regularly giving talks at
the College’s societies, including
a talk on birds in Shakespeare.
Peter’s published books are Eagle
Days (1973); A Guide to the Common
Birds of Wankie/Hwange National
Park (1974), which remained in print
for 25 years; his major work, Birds
of Prey of Southern Africa (1982),
which ran to three impressions and
still remains the definitive reference
work on these raptors; A Delight of
Owls (1984); Hunters of the African
Sky (1990); Birds of Southern Africa
(1991); his second major – and
a lifetime’s – work, Nesting Birds
(1996); and Antarctic Impressions:
Seasons in the Southern Ocean
(2007). He also produced his
memoir, Kingdom of Daylight:
Memories of a Birdwatcher (2017),
and co-authored Historic Rhodesia
in 1975 with the
contribution
of (mainly)
photographs.
Steven Piper Lifetime Achievement
Award for his outstanding
contribution to raptor conservation
and research. In 2016, he was
credited with discovering a new
bird species for southern Africa,
a Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin, found
at Zeekoevlei in the Western Cape.”
See Issue 3
of The Old
Diocesan
for a profile
of Peter by
Ian-Malcolm
Rijsdijk.
THE OLD DIOCESAN | 85
