At age seven he was given a copy of John A. Leach's 1926 An Australian Bird Book, and while attending Geelong Grammar School as a boarder he used photography to record his observations of the local countryside.
After leaving school in 1948 he worked in his family's leather business, while studying part-time and publishing articles and photographs on natural history, the first appearing in 1948 in the Wild Life, whose editor Crosbie Morrison encouraged Pizzey's talent.
[1] In 1957 Pizzey married Sue Taylor, who assisted him on field expeditions and typed his manuscripts for his numerous articles on natural history for newspapers, notably in the Melbourne Age (1954–64).
The couple settled eventually on the Mornington Peninsula, but traveled widely across the Nullarbor the north-west, east coast, and central Australia, even after their children were born, educating them by correspondence.
Writing in a 1959, an unnamed Canberra Times reviewer deemed A Time to Look "A gripping book for all who are interested in the natural world, especially bird life," styling Pizzey "the well-known young Melbourne naturalist";"The volume is illustrated beautifully by 37 pages of pictures which give about 140 entrancing views of bird life obtained only through the exercise, by the author, of superlative patience.
[1] Pizzey joined the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU) in 1948 (now Birds Australia) and served on its Council 1969-1975 and its Records Appraisal Committee 1976–1979.