T Norman Tait

Posted bykirmenPosted inObituary, PNHS updatesTags:, , , , , , ,
Head and shoulders photo of man in a flat cap and blue waterproof

8 August 1942 – 9 December 2024

The recent death of Norman Tait, aged 82, after a short period in hospital brings great sadness to many of us in the Society who had the pleasure of his company and benefits of his enthusiasm for wildlife matters.

Over many years he was an active member and gave us several evening talks: A History of Natural History Photography; Aspects of Natural History Photography; Wildlife of Fuerteventura; Icelandic Odyssey. He was also a member of, and frequent speaker at, the Glasgow Natural History Society meetings, again with an emphasis on photography. Norman was also a member of Hamilton Natural History Society and served as its president for a spell.

Black and white photograph of smiling Norman Tait holding a camera in one hand and prize-winning photograph in the other.
Newspaper picture of Norman with prizewinning photograph, 1981

Norman was an expert photographer and produced many superb pictures of birds, insects, plants and fungi. His long period as photographer in Glasgow University’s Botany Department would have given him a great opportunity to hone his skills. It is no surprise that he won the Paisley International Photography competition at least twice, 1978 and 1981.

Examples of his many wildlife photographs are included below.

photograph of a blue and black striped dragonfly in flight.
Dragonfly sunning on a reed with wings outstretched showing the 4 dark spots on the edges of the wings.
Pale brown and white bird with black and yellow markings and red face, perched on a conifer branch
Black and white bird with yellow eyes and tuft of feathers hanging from the back of its head
Otter at the edge of the bank with a trout in its mouth.
Grey and yellow bird with black and white head feeding younger bird of same colour while both perched on jaggy plant stem.

Another example of his photography related skill was the book he wrote about Ailsa Craig “Kirk on the Craig”, in which he restored and compiled the photographs of early photographer Charles Kirk, a tricky process in pre-digital days.

Three people wearing waterproofs standing in the rain beside a woodland with autumn leaves on the ground.
Fungus foray at Boden Boo, 2022 (courtesy Paisley Museum)

Norman’s interest in natural history was shared by his wife Pearl, who accompanied him on many of his excursions. They were both very knowledgeable about fungi and participated in several fungus forays for our society over the years, the most recent being to Boden Boo in 2022.

Insects were also part of Norman’s ‘portfolio’. In 2018 he led a dragonfly search at Glen Moss which has 9 species (nearly all of Renfrewshire’s Odonata species list). He was particularly interested in Glen Moss for its wildlife and I can recall several visits with him there. He led an outing to Glen Moss in 2013 in a successful search for the Green Hairstreak. It is no surprise that he became a voluntary warden for the site on behalf of the Scottish Wildlife Trust. You can read Norman’s page on Glen Moss, with a selection of his species lists and photographs, on our website.

Single file of people walking through grass towards woodland.
 Glen Moss, 1998 (photo by Bill Gray)
Glen Moss, 2013 (photo by Bill Gray)

He led the Society to Boden Boo a few years ago to search for the Purple Hairstreak as part of our Renfrewshire survey of this rare but spreading species.

Pale silvery brown butterfly with white streak and orange dot on wing feeding at an emerging acorn
Purple Hairstreak, Boden Boo, 2013 (photo by Norman Tait)

The archives of the PNHS give plenty of evidence of his contributions made to us over many years, and he will be well remembered for many years to come.

Dave Mellor, Anne and Bill Gray, December 2024

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