Together with his elder brother, Eric (1914-1999), they were among the first members of the newly founded Scottish Ornithologists' Club in 1933, and helped to set up a bird observatory on the Isle of May in the Firth of Forth.
[3] After attending Oxford University and then undergoing war service in India, he was further encouraged by two ornithologists at Tynron, Dumfriesshire, the Rev.
He had his first one-man exhibition in Edinburgh in 1949, followed by London, Glasgow, Oxford, Dumfries as well as Toronto and Luxembourg.
He became a founder member of the Society of Wildlife Artists, and President of the Scottish Ornithologists' Club.
The Donald Watson Gallery, an exhibition space for wildlife artists at Waterston House in Aberlady, East Lothian is named after him.