By far the biggest news in the bird world this week is the passing of Vern Laux. While Vern was “our” Cape and Islands bird guy, the news reverberated around the globe, as his many friends accumulated over a lifetime of birding, learned the sad news.
There's no question that he was taken from us too soon, but I take some comfort in the knowledge that Vern packed more living into his 60 years than most people could in several lifetimes. Our mutual friend Peter Trimble really nailed it when, in a piece here on this station, he described Vern as “sort of Keith Richards, maybe a little bit of Belushi thrown in there, an NBA basketball player, a defensive lineman...”
Side note – Vern apparently hung out with Keith Richards, to the extent that you can believe his late night stories... and I tend to believe them.
Vern hit all seven continents, some of them many times. I was just looking at some of his photos from a birding expedition to the Gambia. The Gambia! People who majored in African Geography can't find that on a map.
Vern went to Antarctica more than 20 times! I like to imagine that for the Emperor Penguins there, he was sort of like their Norm, from Cheers. He'd step off the boat and they'd all go “Veeerrnn!”
But with all the world travel he never lost his enthusiasm for birding in his home state, which was part of the magic of Vern. He was perhaps the greatest ambassador for birding that we have ever had in this area. With the energy of an overgrown teenager, he tornadoed around the landscape, showing birds to people at every opportunity. I remember him whisking me off to look for, I think, a Western Kingbird during what was supposed to be a short break in a conference we were both attending on Nantucket. I was scheduled to speak later that afternoon and grew increasingly nervous with every mile he put between us and the conference, but he eventually scored us the bird and barely made it back in time. He had his priorities, and they rarely involved trivial things like conferences.
Vern was an inspiration to me in many ways, but especially in his ability to communicate his love of birds. With his hundreds of newspaper columns, his work on WCAI, his innumerable birds walks, and his important work getting school kids out birding, he could connect with a complete beginner as easily as with his fellow hardcore birders, and this is not a common skill. He will be sorely missed.
I don't think Vern would like a Bird Report with no mention of local birds, so here's a token birding tidbit for the week. January is the perfect time to check your local open-water patch for interesting ducks. Normally hard-to-find species like Canvasbacks, Redheads, Pintail, Northern Shovelers, and Eurasian Wigeon become easier to find as they concentrate in ever shrinking areas of open water. Ponds in Falmouth, Marstons Mills, Barnstable, and the islands are especially good in mid-winter, which is also a great time to find a Bald Eagle hunting your local pond. So let's all do what Vern would want us to do, and get out there and bird.
