Adam Watson

Ever since he can remember Adam Watson has been possessed of an intense natural curiosity, always asking questions and seeking answers. Athough he has no idea why, he is just naturally argumentative and naturally critical, essential qualifications for the scientist of international renown that he was to become. ‘I enjoy a good technical argument and feel deprived if I don’t get one for a few weeks! Its almost like a drug.’

He was born and brought up in Turriff, and although he has travelled widely in Arctic Canada etc he has never been tempted away from his native Aberdeenshire. Dux of both his local primary and secondary schools, Adam then gained a first class honours in Zoology at Aberdeen University and went on to study ptarmigan in the Cairngorms for a PhD ‘I was 13 when I saw my first ptarmigan and thought it the most beautiful bird in the world. I still do. I admire the ability it has to stay in such a harsh environment all the year round, while we are so vulnerable’.

His lifelong passion, indeed obsession, with the Cairngorms began at the age of 9 during a family holiday in Ballater. He picked up a faded copy of Seton Gordon’s ‘Cairngorm Hills of Scotland’ and was immediately entranced by the magic in his words and by his evocative photographs. Adam wrote to Seton Gordon and got an immediate reply. Thus began an abiding friendship and a lifelong correspondence (most of it now in the National Library of Scotland). Adam first met his mentor when he was 13, and was shown some of his first golden eagle eyries. Seton told him never to divulge their location, and he never did.