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| Symi - the Greek island where Dr Mosley died on a ferociously hot day in June |
LAST month's tragic death of much-loved TV doctor Michael Mosley while trekking on the Greek island of Symi will have given many a birder pause for thought.
The inquest is yet to be held, but it is thought he succumbed to oppressive heat.
How many birders, too, especially in hot climates have wondered, if, in their enthusiasm, they have ventured too far under a blazing sun?
It was a hazard with which writer-naturalist W.H. Hudson (1841-1922) was familiar from his frequent summertime wanderings in the Sussex downs and beyond.
In a book published last year, contemporary author Conor Jameson quotes Hudson thus: "My custom is to carry a wetted pocket handkerchief or piece of sponge in my hat.
"By renewing the moisture three or four times, or as often as water is found, I am able to keep my head perfectly cool during a ramble of 10 or 12 hours on a cloudless day in July and August."
On one summer's day, he forgot his 'brain-protector', an oversight for which he was soon to suffer.
"I experienced that most miserable feeling of a boiling brain - like a pot boiling on the fire, bubbling and pouring out jets of stream."
Finding W.H. Hudson is published in paperback at £17.99 by Pelagic Publishing. www.pelagicpublishing.com
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