Original FeederWatchers:
20 Years and Counting!
In 2007, Project FeederWatch celebrated its twentieth anniversary, a milestone we can only attribute to the dedication and support of our devoted participants, some of whom have been with us from the very beginning. For over twenty years, scientists have been tracking the distribution and abundance of winter bird populations based on data our citizen scientists gather in their own backyards and neighborhoods. Imagine if they hadn’t been watching… |
In recognition of the 119 "original" FeederWatchers who helped to launch the project's growth and success since 1987, Chronicle Books graciously donated the gift of Bird Songs, a book by Les Beletsky, featuring audio from the Macaulay Library at the Lab of Ornithology. |
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In return, we received the priceless gift of stories and photos from participants with twenty-plus years of FeederWatching under their belts, many of whom are still counting! It is our pleasure to share some of their memories with you.
 Imagine if they hadn't been watching...
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Mary Strasser of Onalaska, Wisconsin started Project FeederWatch as a young woman in her early thirties and says her love of birds and appreciation of the natural world has grown over the years since becoming a participant.
“I must say…the greatest reward for me as a participant in Project FeederWatch these many years has been observing birds and bird behavior I might have missed had I not been part of this project." |
After twenty years, Mary is still FeederWatching and encouraging others to participate:
"Nature observation can be such a rewarding activity, and it can be done over a lifetime, virtually anywhere outdoors, and very inexpensively. I would like to see more people, particularly children, become infatuated with an introduction to the natural world as I have. I think ‘citizen science’ projects offered by the Cornell Lab are an excellent way to spark a lifetime involvement with nature." |
Mary Strasser filling her feeders.
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“As I reflect back on the past twenty years since I first answered an ad for Project FeederWatch that my husband found in a magazine, there have been many changes in our area, changes I probably would not notice otherwise." --Barbara M. Souza, San Leandro, California
Barbara’s participation in Project FeederWatch, she says, has also been a great learning experience for her grandchildren: “They had a wonderful time 'helping' Grandma to count birds."
In celebration of her twentieth anniversary with the project, she says she is looking forward to the next twenty years: “I am sure they will be just as rewarding as the past twenty.
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Judith Anderson Thistle of Rochester, Minnesota also enjoys watching birds with her grandchild:
“The wonderful grandchild, almost nine, often visits for sleepover weekends. Our feeders, set on sweeps of lawn surrounded by woods abundant with acorns and wild black raspberries, attract Baltimore Orioles and Wild Turkeys, as well as deer—creatures he doesn’t see in the city.”
Judith says, “FeederWatch—and our series of marvelous Alaskan Malamutes—have helped this non-native, survive our long Minnesota winters.”
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Beatrice Mansfield of Reidsville, North Carolina says she has never been good at identifying birds by their songs, but she calls her new bird song book “a wonderful tool for me to learn more about the birds I hear and to teach my young granddaughter about birds.”
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Barbara and Douglas Murray releasing a gull at Bodega Bay, California.
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Barbara and Douglas Murray of Santa Rosa, California wrote to say, Project FeederWatch has been a particular delight to them:
"We live in a retirement community surrounded by hills and state and county parks. Birding has been a very active hobby for my husband and me for over twenty years. Our location here has meant that visiting birds in our yard have been numerous and diverse. I’ve identified ninety species in our yard since we moved here in 1982."
Beyond their backyard, the Murrays have a world bird list of over 1,126 species and spent ten years volunteering for their local Wildlife Rescue Center, picking up and delivering injured birds or animals to local veterinarians. |
"The first cardinal to overwinter here was a scrappy male I called Oscar. He ruled the ground feeding area. When a jay glared at Oscar, he would lower his head, flare his wings, and charge like a bull. No jay would stand its ground against Oscar." ---Mary Wright of Gilsum, New Hampshire
Twenty years of observations...
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Alice Smith, Original FeederWatcher
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For Alice Smith of McAlpin, Florida, moving from her home in the south to a northern part of Florida has brought big changes to her feeders: “I never had goldfinches, titmice, or chickadees at my feeders in the south.”
Participating in FeederWatch for over twenty years, Alice says, has made her pay more attention to the birds at her feeders when they show up each year and gives her a good excuse to “sit at the kitchen window and watch birds.” As for receiving recognition for her twentieth FeederWatch anniversary, she wrote, “imagine getting a reward for doing what you love to do anyway.” |
| Alice is one of our Featured FeederWatchers. Read more... |
"For the last two or three years, a huge flock of robins (100+) has descended upon a holly tree adjacent to my lot. In a day they strip the tree of its ubiquitous berries. As they are busy stripping the tree, they become thirsty and drain my two bird baths in short order. This one-day feast takes place early in February each year. The birds behave in a frenzy-like manner. Very interesting to watch." --Carl Woodward, Jr., Highland Park, New Jersey
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Chloe Peebles of Tullahoma, Tennessee calls Project FeederWatch an “interesting and worthy program.” Chloe wrote to say she is “very pleased to be numbered among the ‘original’ FeederWatchers.” To receive a gift for twenty years of participation, she says “seems almost too much to be so handsomely rewarded for helping in an activity which is already a satisfying hobby.”
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Frances and Peter Mallet of Milton, Vermont have seen many changes over the years:
“When we started 20 years ago, the Evening Grosbeaks were consuming 50 pounds of sunflower seeds per week. Now, it has been several years since we have seen even one.”
The Mallets hope to contribute for years to come and wrote, “Having passed the 80th birthday (some time ago) we will feel fortunate for every year.”
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“Every year I can hardly wait until the start of the counting period. I’m always glad that my Hooded Oriole shows up before the end date.”
---Jean Scheibe of Tucson, Arizona
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Jane Haviland of Brunswick, Maine wrote to us about her most memorable FeederWatching moment that came during a 1998 ice storm:
"With my first step out onto the deck, I was covered by a swarm of chickadees on my shoulders and arms and nuthatches on my head. That year, prior to the storm, I reported a high of 15 chickadees on my FeederWatch counts, but that morning 30 to 50 were all over me!"
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“Project FeederWatch has been a pleasure to me for all those twenty years. I’ve lived in two areas of Ithaca during that time, mainly out in the country. Now, I am nearer the city but still see a surprising number of birds.” --- Jeanne A. White of Ithaca, New York |
Jamie Wright shown here in her Count Site at her home in Memphis, Tennessee, wrote, "I just enjoy seeing and hearing the birds. Winter would be dull and uneventful without them."
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Jim Russell of Grand Prairie, Texas has been writing articles and columns for Nature Society News since early 2001. Over the past few years he has written about his personal encounters “in the wild" in his column “Along My Path.”
Read an excerpt of one of Jim's articles here.
Growing up in East Central South Dakota, Jim remembers a time when Ring-necked Pheasants were “so thick one needed to dodge them while working in fields and even along public streets and highways."
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In response to the book she received for being an original FeederWatcher, Evelyn Polcer of Newton, New Jersey wrote, “What a wonderful surprise. It is a great learning tool for me as there still are many bird calls I don’t recognize even after twenty years of FeederWatching.”
Evelyn says it has been a great joy to watch the birds as she sits at her kitchen table and counts for FeederWatch.
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“It has been a great joy and privilege to participate in Project FeederWatch these last twenty years.” ---Cutler Baldwin, Owego, New York |
Time flies |
Dorothy Anderson of Stanchfield, Minnesota can’t believe twenty years have gone by:
“I guess it is true, time flies when you’re having fun. My bird watching and feeding is a daily event for me. Right now, I am watching the female Pileated Woodpecker eating suet cake at my feeder—great fun when she brings her young and feeds them at the feeder. Birds bring me a great deal of joy and I hope I have many more years to count and enjoy them. I love sitting on the porch in the summer and just listening to all their songs.”
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In 2004, Rene visited the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, New York. Photo by Diane Tessaglia-Hymes. |
Rene Prochelle of Port Chester, New York wrote, “It seems hardly possible that we have been doing this for 20 years." Thinking back, he says his participation has provided “a wealth of observations and enjoyment which are a wonderful memory."
Particularly, Rene remembers when a Tufted Titmouse came with four of her offspring whom she was teaching to fly, to land, and to access a feeder, an episode, which he says lasted for "thirty unforgettable minutes…a unique experience one is grateful for."
Rene is one of our Featured FeederWatchers. Read more... |
Ann Plaisted of Ramsey, New Jersey began watching and feeding birds with her family in the late forties after a chance meeting with “The Bird Lady of Tenafly, New Jersey, Betty Carnes,” who later became the first woman president of the Audubon.
Ann says, “It doesn’t seem possible that Project FeederWatch is 20 years old (or that I’m 20 years older)!” The family hobby carried on to her grandparents in New York State, and now she says, “there are two younger generations who are interested…it’s a great hobby for all ages!”
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| “These 20 years went by so quickly!” wrote Ellis and Mimi Myers of Moraga, California. They were delighted to receive Beletsky’s book, Bird Songs, and celebrated their twenty years of FeederWatching by sharing their gift with Native Bird Connections for use in their bird study program in the local school system.
"Their program gives both classroom and field-trip study and is run by the most gifted of teachers who was able to put the book to good use and report that it is very useful—and that the children are using it without her direct supervision as well."
Read more about the Myers on our Featured FeederWatchers page.
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| “Twenty years has gone by rapidly, and usually in wintry Warren, doing the feeder count has been a great survival kit.” ---Bill Hill of Warren, Pennsylvania |
FeederWatch, among other things...
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You may know Vern Dayhoff of Colorado Springs, Colorado as “The bird man of Gleneagle.” According to an article written in his local newspaper, this retired biology teacher and long-time FeederWatcher has been all over the world to every continent, adding more than 3,000 bird species to his life list. Author of a birding book and several magazine and professional journal articles, Vern’s favorite place to watch is from his den in Gleneagle overlooking a wild bird sanctuary that he and his wife built on five acres around their home.
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Marcia Bonta of Tyrone, Pennsylvania is a nature writer and an original FeederWatcher. Together with her son, Dave Bonta, she is working on a website and blog to feature her property, along with a biological inventory and collection of her FeederWatch data.
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John White of Excelsior Springs, Missouri wrote, “I have always looked forward to participating in Project FeederWatch and have found it to be very enjoyable and educational. It is a good feeling to know that I have contributed at least a small part to the winter bird population data.”
After retiring and sadly losing his wife in July of 2002, John asked himself what is the one thing he would really like to do. His answer, “Get my degree!” In the 1950s, he attended the University of Missouri for four years, got married, got a job, and never finished. As of August 2007, he wrote to tell us, in addition to over twenty years of FeederWatching, he had two semesters and one summer course behind him and was eligible to earn a Bachelor of Science in Fisheries and Wildlife after his fall semester, at the age of 70! He says, “Next is graduate school and/or research work.”
Many congratulations to John on his achievements and on over twenty years of FeederWatching! |
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"I don't know my social security number, but I know my Project FeederWatch ID number by heart." ---Beverley Kirby of Troy, Michigan
In addition to FeederWatching for over twenty years, Beverley has participated in an Audubon Survey for twenty-nine years. When she received her gift of Bird Songs, she took it to show her neighbor who had bought her the same book three weeks earlier for her birthday. They both laughed. Beverley decided it is a wonderful book to share and donated her duplicate copy of the book to the local elementary school, where she volunteered for thirty-seven years.
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Melanie Miller of Hays, Kansas has a career in foreign languages and librarianship but says, “At one time, I wanted to be an ornithologist and later, a veterinarian.” Project FeederWatch, she says allows “those of us who aren’t skilled enough to do this professionally” to be participants.
In addition to twenty years as a citizen scientist, Melanie holds two advanced degrees, a certification as a licensed bird rehabilitator, and is the author of “Birds: A Guide to the Literature,” which she partly researched at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
She wrote: “I give you all this extraneous personal detail so that you understand how much it has meant to me to participate in Project FeederWatch for all these years.” Of all her achievements, she says, “I believe my proudest accomplishment is my certificate in Bird Biology from Cornell’s wonderful correspondence course.”
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| Beyond her role as full-professor in the Human Services Department at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, Dr. Joanne Ramberg says she taught Birds of Kansas and Ornithology for the Biology Department. At home in Topeka, she enjoys watching birds from “a wonderful location” on the edge of woods with two ponds and a pasture of llamas. Joanne says, “Having grown up in the inner city of Chicago, this is heaven to me.” Now, in her eighties, she hopes to continue counting until she is ninety. |
| Here's to another twenty years... |
“The FeederWatch program has been an important part of our birding life, and I hope it will continue to be for many years.” ---Kenneth and Beverly Clum of Webster, New York |
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“Being part of Project FeederWatch has been such a good experience. I continue to learn and appreciate the birds at my feeders—and hope to continue.” ---Arabella Tubbs of Maquoketa, Iowa
Arabella is one of our Featured FeederWatchers. Learn more about her here.
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After twenty years of FeederWatching, Dorothy Roes of Menahga, Minnesota, wrote “The one thing I really miss is seeing Evening Grosbeaks. When I started we would have over thirty on the feeders, but we have not seen one in over four years.” Dorothy says, she hopes to count birds for many more years.
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When Serene Collmus of Frederick, Maryland received her book from Project FeederWatch, she opened it and thought "Who in the world would send me—an eighty year old lady—another bird book?" She wrote, "Well, I can’t begin to tell you how much I have enjoyed it—as have many of my friends—when we listen to the songs.”
As a founding participant, Serene says she has enjoyed counting birds and hopes she’ll be able to do so for a few more years.
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Ruth Weber of Lacey, Washington wrote about her twenty years of FeederWatching:
“It is unbelievable that it has been so long. I’ve enjoyed doing it even though I sometimes wish there had been more variety. I am 83 and am hoping I can continue a while longer.”
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M.W. Lewis, III of Louisville, Kentucky wrote, “I was at Cornell taking summer courses when Project FeederWatch was originated, and I have enjoyed it ever since. I have been a birder most of my life, and FeederWatch adds so much to the fall and winter months.”
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Self-proclaimed “birdaholic,” Mark Chestnut of Shoemakersville, Pennsylvania, says he looks forward to what each year might bring to his feeders and calls it a “treat” to be one of the original FeederWatchers.
“I have many many memories,” he told us, some of which he calls, “close encounters of the bird kind.” One encounter occurred while watching Eastern Kingbirds swoop in for insects one morning: “I had a tube feeder in one hand and the new one in the other, a Red-breasted Nuthatch landed on the old feeder to take a sunflower seed, paying no mind to his food supplier for that moment…I can’t put into words how much I love this hobby of birding.” |
Mark says, “I guess you can call us the passenger pigeons of the program. In the far away future we will be extinct, but I hope we can set an example for birders helping citizen science projects.”
As he wrote to us, he watched a Carolina Wren collecting bugs five feet from his toes on his deck. “It’s moments like this that are so precious,” he wrote. “I’m proud to support Cornell. It’s a pleasure just to be a small part of a wonderful project like FeederWatch.” |
Photo of Mark Chestnut by his son Justin. |
“I can’t believe I’ve participated in Project FeederWatch for twenty years. It’s been a very enjoyable experience, and I appreciate the fact that it’s a small contribution to collecting data on our beautiful feathered friends. I have just renewed my participation…I hope it’s for another twenty years!” ---Dorothy Herweg of Ballwin, Missouri
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