Memory Book of
Michael Peter Levick Fogden
We would love you to share your memories and pictures of Mike here.
Book Owner: Patricia and Sue Fogden
Book Size:Â 200 Messages
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Richard and Julia Porter
Memories of Mike First meeting: July 1962 at the RSPB Osprey Camp. I still remember his long red socks……. First outing: 4 July 62 – a climb up Carn Ban Mor to see Dotterel. First meeting abroad: April 1990 at Mike and Tricia’s house in Monte Verde, Costa Rica. And a 12 hour hike down the Penas Blancas to their log cabin in the heart of the rainforest. Mike showing me my first Bellbirds and Umbrellabirds. By the Millennium, we were neighbours in Cley and they were the ‘official’ photographers at our wedding. And during all this Mike taught me the correct way to point a camera and once I’d mastered that he told me the hidden secrets of PhotoShop. Norfolk saw many fondly remembered dinner parties and BBQs, probably hundreds of walks to Blakeney Point, seawatches, a trip to visit Mike and Tricia at their home in Ecuador and three Christmases spent together in Scotland. There were sad times too, but friendship transcends. Richard, and latterly Julia, Porter Ps. I only manages to download two photos: Yuletide in Scotland in 2008 (also with Barbara and Martin Woodcock) and an evening…
Nicholas Aldridge
I Have great memories of my invite over to Costa Rica to be with Uncle Micheal and auntie Trisha. staying with them at the research station in le selva and then going up to there homestead in the Monteverde cloud forest .back then when i was a teenager back in the 80s. It was just amazing .I loved uncle Micheals knowledge and advise on everything about the wildlife and pictures he took.i was keen photographer then and uncle Micheal was a great beacon of light on those who followed his subject. i gained a few tips from uncle on how best to produce results from 35 mm film then and still to these days now. I think those who travel alot gain great knowledge of many things and tell funny stories . And uncle Micheal certainly did and shall all ways be remembering him chuckling with auntie trisha. Shall be dearly missed Rest in Peace Uncle Micheal Nick …
Susan Fogden
From a lifetime of memories it’s difficult to select just a few, but many of them are linked with experiences of wildlife. Mike showed me my first dipper’s nest tucked under a small bridge over a stream, he helped me collect and press wild flowers for a school project, taught me how to write field notes and he introduced me to sea watching for birds with a scramble out to the tip of Blannanaragaun on Cape Clear Island. We went on many birding trips together, around the UK as well as more exotic destinations, and once, to my great amusement (because it was usually the other way round), acted as my field assistant on a trip to Orkney where I was researching Grey Seal behaviour. Once he started on his worldwide travels I started to help manage his affairs back home. I always said he was the ideal boss, he allowed me to get on with the job without interference, was always available with advice but only when asked, and was mostly on the other side of the world. Helping to sell his amazing pictures meant I was able to join him and Trish at several of their destinations…
Katy Proctor
I have many, many precious memories of my Uncle but there are some that stand out for me. When I was very young, I remember running around chairs and other obstacles in glee as he chased me pretending to be a monster, amazingly he never seemed to manage to catch me which I put down to the natural athleticism of a 4 year old! Around the same time, he gave me a book called ‘Monsters’ which was a natural history book detailing all the animals that could easily eat a small child. It became my most treasured possession which I still have today and was my first introduction to sharks – this sparked a life-long interest in the animals (even the ones that couldn’t eat me). When I was 13, my Mum and I went to live in Costa Rica with him and Patricia for a year. The year was spent exploring the rain forest with him, finding exotic frogs and lizards, spotting bellbirds and quetzals, and feeding the olingos that ventured into our garden. He taught me how to handle snakes, how to mis-net hummingbirds without harming them and he gave me all the shed snake skins a…
Emma Fogden
Our family were always incredibly proud of Mike. My Dad was proud and begrudgingly impressed by how is older brother did so well at everything without seeming to try very hard. He used to recount how on his own first day of boarding school, he was told, ‘If you do as well as your brother, you’ll do very well,” and feeling rather daunted by this! I remember visiting them in their flat in central London, when I was very young, and admiring their photos and being given plastic reptiles as a present. Mike and Trish’s passion for the environment, birds, reptiles and animals flowed down through the family. In time, my boys came away from their house in Cley with great stories and interesting gifts. Throughout my life I’ve proudly retold of their adventures in Borneo, Costa Rica and Namibia. I’ve always valued being related to someone who lead such an adventurous, unconventional and worthwhile life. Visiting their home in Monteverde, being made so welcome and regailed with fascinating stories will stay with me forever. Sitting quietly and watching hummingbirds on their veranda is a lovely way to remember him. …
Tom Fogden
I remember going up to stay at Cley with my wife and being hosted so well by uncle Mike and Trish. Their house was full of such amazing pictures and ornaments from their fascinating lives. Every item seemed to have a brilliant story attached: a cobra interfering with their cricket match and getting stumped; studying bats for his PhD with a glass of G&T in hand; and hummingbirds coming to get their photos taken on the veranda in Costa Rica. I particularly enjoyed stories of Mike with his sister and my Dad in Cyprus. Clearly sending out a gang of kids aged from 5-15 for the day with a load of butterfly nets and jar of chloroform wouldn’t happen today but they all made it home safely, even if one had a bit of a headache! An action-packed life full of adventure, travel, books and photos. There was never enough time for them all but I guess, like the migrating birds, it was his time to move on….
Polly Doyle
I was lucky to have the chance to travel in my GAP year with my Uncle Mike, Auntie Trish and Katy P to Namibia for a month. I was thrilled to have this opportunity to both see Mike and Trish at their craft and explore a beautiful country. I think Mike was less thrilled by the chefs he had invited along – Katy and my best dish creation was spam mash! However, it was wonderful to spend some quality time with my Uncle, to hear a small part of his extensive knowledge of the natural world and experience his dry wit! It was only half way through the trip that he shared he had packed several tops, but all of the same colour, and that he hadn’t just worn the same top the whole time! You can see his favourite salmon pink top in the photos. My Dad often told tales of his big brother. One that stood out was when they were little and washing up Mike would put my Dad to the drying up role and then challenged him to a race. It would frustrate my Dad that he never won… We will miss my uncle and…
