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 ...

It's time for round 2 in the search for the Babe Ruth of Ornithology! This weeks contestants are Charles Lucien Bonaparte and Elliott Coues! The format will be the same as last weeks with a brief blurb about each contestants background and achievements and a summary of each of the positive and negative contributions they gave to ornithology. So without further adieu, here are this weeks contestants: As the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, he conquered the birds of the North American continent, not for glory, but instead for science! Charles Lucien Bonaparte (1803-1857) was the nephew of the Corsican-born ruler of France that everyone knows from history class, but this isn't his story. This Bonaparte was one of the most gifted, foreign-born ornithologists that ever graced America's shores and his work helped to cement him into the annals of ornithological history. Even before arriving the U.S., he discovered a new species of Old World warbler and upon arrival in the New Wo...