Early Birding in Dutchess County 1870 - 1950 Before Binoculars to Field Guides by Stan DeOrsey Published on behalf of The Ralph T. Waterman Bird Club, Inc. Poughkeepsie, New York 2016 Copyright © 2016 by Stan DeOrsey All rights reserved First printing July 2016 Digital version June 2018, with minor changes and new pages added at the end. Digital version July 2019, pages added at end. Cover images: Front: - Frank Chapman’s Birds of Eastern North America (1912 ed.) - LS Horton’s post card of his Long-eared Owl photograph (1906). - Rhinebeck Bird Club’s second Year Book with Crosby’s “Birds and Seasons” articles (1916). - Chester Reed’s Bird Guide, Land Birds East of the Rockies (1908 ed.) - 3x binoculars c.1910. Back: 1880 - first bird list for Dutchess County by Winfrid Stearns. 1891 - The Oölogist’s Journal published in Poughkeepsie by Fred Stack. 1900 - specimen tag for Canada Warbler from CC Young collection at Vassar College. 1915 - membership application for Rhinebeck Bird Club. 1921 - Maunsell Crosby’s county bird list from Rhinebeck Bird Club’s last Year Book. 1939 - specimen tag from Vassar Brothers Institute Museum. 1943 - May Census checklist, reading: Raymond Guernsey, Frank L. Gardner, Jr., Ruth Turner & AF [Allen Frost] (James Gardner); May 16, 1943, 3:30am - 9:30pm; Overcast & Cold all day; Thompson Pond, Cruger Island, Mt. Rutson, Vandenburg’s Cove, Poughkeepsie, Lake Walton, Noxon [in LaGrange], Sylvan Lake, Crouse’s Store [in Union Vale], Chestnut Ridge, Brickyard Swamp, Manchester, & Home via Red Oaks Mill. They counted 117 species, James Gardner, Frank’s brother, added 3 more. Ruth Turner took Ralph Palmer’s Vassar teaching position during the war. Dedicated to everyone who has perpetuated the high standards of Dutchess County ornithology through the Ralph T. Waterman Bird Club, especially: Otis Waterman for teaching me and countless others bird identification; Eleanor Pink for keeping extensive and well organized records for so many years; Florence Germond for her widespread work for Bluebirds plus attacting so many summer birds to her home; Helen Manson for her dedication to community education as well as her many Wings over Dutchess activities; Marion Van Wagner for always looking for and finding so many special birds; and particularly Mary and Jim Key for sharing their interest in local history, how Mary would have loved to read these stories and undoubtedly note something omitted. In the field with friends looking at birds, what could be better? Ralph Waterman (center) with Helen Manson (left) and Louisa Chrystal, May 1950, surely taken by Bill Chrystal. Dutchess County, N.Y. Contents 7 Preface 7 Acknowledgments 9 Introduction 10 Dutchess County Ornithological Timeline Before 1870 13 How old are our bird species? 14 The Last “Old” Bird Discovered 16 Name that Bird 17 • John Bachman 18 Birdlife Changes before 1870 in Dutchess County 19 • Jacob P. Giraud 20 The House Sparrow Introduction at Poughkeepsie 22 - Extinct Species The 1870s 23 Dutchess County Bird Records prior to 1878 24 Peter de Nottbeck — the “Lost” Birder 24 • Edgar A. Mearns 26 The Vassar College Museum of Natural History 30 Bird Identification from the 1870s to the 1890s — Coues’ Key The 1880s 31 Winfrid A. Stearns — Created First Bird List 32 Edwin C. Kent — Sportsman 32 Passenger Pigeons in Dutchess County by Edwin Kent 34 The Vassar Brothers Institute Museum 36 Mary Hyatt — a life with birds 37 The Record of a Day in June by Mary Hyatt 40 - Species once Extirpated The 1890s 41 Frederic W. Stack — Dealer in Birds Eggs 44 Arthur Bloomfield — “local ornithologist” 45 • Franklin D. Roosevelt 46 Keeping Pigeons 48 Charles F. Dieterich and the Daheim Game Preserve 51 • Eugene Scheiffelin 52 The Wake Robin Club and John Burroughs by Caroline E. Furness 55 • Feather Hats 56 Lispenard S. Horton — Bird Nest Photographer 59 - Introduced Species 60 Bird Identification from 1895 to the 1920s — Chapman’s Handbook 5 The 1900s 61 Maunsell S. Crosby — Dean of Dutchess County Birding 66 The Christmas Bird Count 69 A Birds’ Christmas Tree by Elva L. Bascom 70 • CC Young & Webb Floyd 71 Museum Specimens from Dutchess County 73 Clinton G. Abbott — Nature Educator 75 Birding Journal, June 1905 by Clinton Abbott 80 Bird Identification from 1905 to the 1930s — Reed’s Guide The 1910s 81 Hunting Club Game Birds 83 • Tracy Dows 84 New York State Birds to 1910 — Eaton’s Birds of New York 85 Migration Records of the Biological Survey 86 The Rhinebeck Bird Club 88 Winter Bird Feeding by T. Gilbert Pearson with Maunsell Crosby 89 Allen Frost — Museum Curator & Lecturer 91 The May Census 95 All-Day Bird Census Taken by Maunsell Crosby 98 - Species Expanding their Range The 1920s 99 Bird Study Near Home by Maunsell Crosby 101 “Dutchess County Ornithological Society” 105 Jacob Ruppert and his Mute Swans 108 Bird Banding in Dutchess County 111 The Great Auks of Dutchess County 118 1929 May Census by Florence Page Jaques 121 • Rex Brasher 122 Dutchess County Birds to 1933 — Griscom’s Birds of Dutchess County The 1930s & 1940s 123 • Ludlow Griscom 123 John H. Baker — Conservationist and Naturalist 126 Maunsell Crosby’s Birding Journals, February 1930 by Maunsell Crosby 127 H. Leonard Allen & Maxwell R. Knapp — Enthusiastic Young Birders 129 Bird Banding by Maxwell Knapp 130 Lost Birding Sites 131 Bird Identification from 1934 — Peterson’s Field Guide 134 The Day FDR went on the May Census by James Whitehead 138 • The Boys Scouts 138 Ralph T. Waterman & the Dutchess County Bird Club 140 • Ralph S. Palmer Additions to online edition 143 Since the 1950s 151 Addendum 6 Preface The process which lead to this book started when planning the Birds of Dutchess County book. Barbara Butler and I divided the research such that I sought the records from before 1958. At first it was relatively easy to find a great many records but there were others less easily found. Once we had records the question immediately arose as to who were the observers and could the records be trusted as valid sightings. Thus some background was needed on these people whose records we had located. Again, this was relatively easy as Maunsell Crosby and Ludlow Griscom had verified a great many records and described many of the observers. However, after the Birds of Dutchess County was published, I continued to look for old records and to research the lives of the various observers. This became addictive. Sufficient information was found to reveal much about the people, each more fascinating then the previous. Over the years articles have been written for Wings over Dutchess about these people as well as other aspects of county bird history, including reprinting excerpts from a variety of publications. The stories show a different approach to birding when fewer people were interested, when there was less paraphernalia, and when there was even a different variety of local birds from those seen today. These articles are now collected into this book. Nearly all have had minor updates, a few have had major updates. Additionally, images have been added, many of which have not been previously published. Also added are a few stories not contributed to Wings. This history stops when Ralph Waterman became more active in the 1950s, although some events, such as the May Census, note current sightings. This is primarily due to the Waterman Bird Club maintaining such excellent and complete records, as well as the publishing of their 50th anniversary booklet in 2008, which generally starts where this work leaves off. The sources used for much of the research described here were most frequently newspaper archives, books scanned and placed online, and US Census records. While clearly the internet has been used extensively, little to no data was obtained from “random” web sites. Rather, when a fact was discovered, it was verified with contemporary documents or records. The web site www.fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html has many Dutchess County newspapers online, particularly from Rhinebeck, Millbrook, Pine Plains, Amenia, and Pawling, as well as from Poughkepsie but only to 1941. The purpose of this book is to describe the history of birding in Dutchess County with a particular focus on people. It is not a record book of bird sightings, although a few are included. The index lists every person mentioned in the context of a bird related activity. If you find an old bird record, the likelihood is that the person associated with that record is noted in this work. My only regret is wondering what has been missed, particularly what might be discovered soon after this is published. Nevertheless, should you be aware of any omission, or error, I would appreciate knowing of it. This work has kept me busy for some years following my retirement from IBM, all very enjoyable. I am amazed at the variety and extent of the activities and data, published or saved, associated with the birds of Dutchess County. I hope you enjoy learning about the many fascinating people and events which preceded us, all involving local birds. Acknowledgments Some of these articles include large sections which are copied or abridged from material written by others, sometimes journals, sometimes sections of books. In all cases, the original material is long out of copyright and the authors no longer with us. The same is true for older photos used. All are included in order to provide as complete a picture as possible as how birding existed in years past. I am honored to record our past and most appreciative of the material left by those who preceded us. I certainly want to thank those 7 Waterman Club members who told me how much they enjoyed reading these article the first time around in Wings over Dutchess.