Thanks Dennis for sharing this news about Gregg Thompson, a kind, generous,
talented and fun spirit gone too soon. On the positive side, I remind
myself that he chose to retire early and dedicate most of his free time and
money to his love, photographing nature, especially birds.
I met Greg shortly after he retired from the Zoo and had the pleasure of
running into him or even hitting the field with him hundreds of times.
Each time was a treat. He was always thinking and loved to share his
insights, experiences or humor, each of which enriched a day. Even if we
never saw or photographed what we sought, each experience was memorable.

You will be missed Gregg.

Paul Bannick
Seattle

On Tue, Jan 23, 2024 at 9:29 AM Dennis Paulson <dennispaulson at comcast.net>
wrote:


> Hello tweeters,

>

> I am so sorry to share the news that Gregg Thompson has passed away. I

> first knew Gregg when he worked as the bird curator at Woodland Park Zoo in

> 1974 and took a bird class from me. We have been friends ever since, not

> seeing each other all the time but meeting in the field serendipitously and

> surprisingly often and always communicating by email about the messages

> full of beautiful photos that he sent to many, many people, sometimes every

> day.

>

> Gregg was a photographer first and always, taking far better photos than

> most of us do and loving to share camera information as well as bird

> information. He was our consultant for years when we considered buying new

> cameras or lenses. He got us started on the Canon 7D and subsequently

> Olympus and OM systems, all the best advice. He photographed birds for

> years but then expanded into photographing many other things in nature,

> always concentrating on getting the best photos he could. I like to think

> that I got him started with dragonflies.

>

> He used to roam all over the state, but when his back began to give him

> trouble he narrowed his focus down to this immediate area. He loved the

> Samish and Skagit Flats, where there were photo ops galore, including

> chances to photograph raptors. Just this winter he perfected a technique of

> photographing kestrels in flight.

>

> Gregg had a wry sense of humor, and Netta and I always enjoyed talking to

> him about birds, photography, and the world. We will miss him very much.

>

> Dennis Paulson

> Seattle

>

>

>

>

> _______________________________________________

> Tweeters mailing list

> Tweeters at u.washington.edu

> http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters

>



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