Nature Note: A Naturalist's Travels Through Nature

Sorry for the lateness this week, but I'm determined to get underway. This week's challengers are Ludlow Griscom vs. Sir Peter Scott. This week's theme will feature the philosophies and methods of two completely different men who happened to have a mutual love of birds and the natural world they shared. Griscom is probably most famous for inspiring famed bird artists and field guide author, Roger Tory Peterson to create and market his all important "Field guide to the Birds". His go-get-em style and vigor when it came to birding and identification made him an icon in the initial drives to recognize birds by distinctive field marks present on their bodies and wings and through their behavior and demeanor. Scott on the other hand is famous for starting two organizations with the goal of conservation and preservation hand in hand. While more famous for his work with waterfowl, he also had a hand in founding the World Wildlife Fund. However, the WWT was his first ...

Before this week's competition begins, I would like to let you guys know that I'm only doing one entry for the week as I'll be in Florida from Friday until next Tuesday. I'll inform you guys of how the trip went (hopefully with photos) and update the tournament as well. Thanks for bearing with me and the hectic start to the new year. Hopefully I can get some new species to show for it huh? (Here's hoping for Limpkin ( Aramus guarauna ) and Snowy Plover ( Charadrius nivosus )) Anyhoo, let's get this week's competition underway! Griscom vs. Gould! The battle of the G's begins now! Practically the Gaston of birdwatchers Ludlow Griscom (1890-1959) as can be seen above, was regarded as being the "Dean of Birdwatchers". A man with a commanding personality and a passion for birds to match, he made his mark on the birding world, especially in Massachusetts and in the East. His most famous contribution to the birding world was the concept of fi...

Welcome to part two of the birding reading list. Here are my next four submissions. Oology: Ralph's Talking Eggs by Carrol L. Henderson (2007) I picked this book up somewhere (I don't remember where) and was fascinated by the study and formerly rife practice of oology (the study of bird eggs and to a lesser extent, their nesting habits) which was pursued during the days of "shotgun ornithology" and market hunting, when the idea that such huge numbers of shorebirds, ducks, and pigeons ever running out was thought to be flights of fancy. I'm looking forward to it because it explains the tale of one such oologist named Ralph Handsaker who lived in the Midwest and started a collection of eggs that many other bird experts used to recognize all sorts of birds all over North America. It looks like an interesting read based on a formerly prominent hobby of many nature observers and amateur scientists and how it has had an impact on bird conservation and study in moder...

Ludlow Griscom (1890-1959) while not as famous as Concord's Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, or Nathaniel Hawthorne, his presence is still appreciated by ornithologists and birders who have graced a local library and perhaps found a curious volume called "Birds of Concord". The book itself isn't a field guide, but instead a reference for any bird lover that wished at the time to better understand the mechanisms behind bird abundance and rarity as well as why migration occurred and what birds were considered common in this small, but rigorously surveyed portion of Massachusetts. Griscom himself was one of the first ornithologists to shift away from "shotgun ornithology" and instead use the field marks present on a bird body to determine its identity. Around the time of Griscom, it was common for those studying birds to have to shoot them in order to tender an identification of the bird in hand. This was certainly true for smaller, harder to see songbirds like sp...