Date: 10/20/24 4:11 am From: Aveen Burney <aveenburney...> Subject: Re: [NHBirds] The passing of Davis Finch
Hi everyone,
It’s an honor to have been part of the last PEA ornithology class to bird
with Mr. Finch. We had the privilege of meeting him during a memorable
field trip to his home with Mr. Matlack and Mr. Aaronian.
I’ve shared the news with our ornithology class group chat, and the
condolences and messages are pouring in, all reflecting on his legendary
status.
We had so much fun and learned a great deal from him. His prowess was
unmatched, and I’ll never forget him mimicking a crow’s call with his
voice—it was beyond impressive. A few of us stayed behind to chat with him
about his life, and I’m so glad we did. We even joked about how he was a
level above Matlack and Aaronian. And of course, we all loved that his name
was fittingly Mr. Finch.
His passion was truly inspiring, both for our class and for me personally.
He showed us that birding and love for the world around us isn’t just a
hobby, but a lifelong endeavor.
Fly high, Mr. Finch. Thank you!
Here’s the photo we took:
On Sat, Oct 19, 2024 at 9:58 PM Scott Heron <smheron...> wrote:
> Davis was always such a kind, humble, and welcoming spirit to us New
> Hampshire birders. His legendary "meat pile" was one of my early exposures
> to birding. Imagine driving down your average New England country road,
> looking up and seeing a cloud of gulls overhead. Add Bald Eagles in the
> double digits as well as the occasional rarity, and that was Davis' yard.
>
> I snapped this shot back in 2015 and I was honored that NH Audubon chose
> it as part of Davis' 2016 Goodhue-Elkins Award. It perfectly captured his
> patience and undying fascination with the natural world.
>
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/scottheron/16494681373/ >
> Scott Heron
> Barrington, NH
>
> On Sat, Oct 19, 2024, 7:33 PM 'Paul Dionne' via NHBirds <
> <nhbirds...> wrote:
>
>> I was honored to get to know Davis while on the board of the Rockingham
>> Land Trust/SELT. He always went out of his way to welcome me, was a true
>> gentleman and one heck of a birder. He touched many lives for the better.
>> Thanks for sharing, Steve.
>> Paul Dionne, Derry
>>
>> “Let there be songs to fill the air.”
>> R. Hunter/J. Garcia
>>
>>
>>
>> > On Oct 19, 2024, at 7:15 PM, 'Steve Mirick' via NHBirds <
>> <nhbirds...> wrote:
>> >
>> > It is with great sadness that I have to share with you the passing of
>> Davis Finch who died last night at the age of 87.
>> >
>> > While new birders may not know of him, Davis was a legend to me in my
>> early days of birding in the 1980's and 1990's. He co-founded Wings Bird
>> Tours with Will Russell in 1973 and led the idyllic life of a birder who
>> traveled around the world to see birds and share sightings with
>> birdwatchers from around the world. Although Davis led bird trips all over
>> the world, his specialty was in the tropics where he led more than 90
>> trips, concentrating on Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and especially Guyana
>> in later years. I only came to know him personally in the 1990's and was
>> proud and fortunate to be able to travel with Davis to Guyana in 1997
>> toward the end of his tour leading career. His skills as a birder and the
>> breadth of his knowledge were incredible and respected by all.
>> >
>> > While Davis spent a good part of his adult life traveling around the
>> world, his home was always in East Kingston, and his contributions to New
>> Hampshire's bird records spanned 7 decades with personal records dating
>> back at least until 1953! Some of his noteworthy discoveries included the
>> State's second record for Blue-winged Warbler in 1955, the third state
>> record for House Finch in Errol (of all places!!) in 1967, the first State
>> record of Fish Crow in Kingston in 1971, an Ash-throated Flycatcher in his
>> yard in 2005, a Black Vulture in his yard in 2009 (back when they were rare
>> in NH!), a Yellow-headed Blackbird in his yard in 2012, and more recently,
>> the first (and only) State record of Eurasian Collared-Dove just down the
>> street from his house in 2016. Many will recall Davis warmly welcoming
>> birders into his yard to see many of the other rare and not so rare birds
>> over the last 20 years. His famous "meat pile" was visited by wintering
>> Bald Eagles, Vultures, and gulls, as well as the many birders and
>> photographers who showed up to witness this spectacle!
>> >
>> > His contributions to New Hampshire's bird records and his educational
>> and conservation activities in the State culminated in New Hampshire
>> Audubon awarding him the prestigious Goodhue-Elkins Award in 2016.
>> >
>> >
>> https://www.nhaudubon.org/wp-content/uploads/Goodhue-Elkins-2016-Finch.pdf >> >
>> > His warm smile and polite and soft demeanor will be missed.
>> >
>> > Just a couple of photos of Davis:
>> >
>> > https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevemirick/albums/72177720321332880/ >> >
>> > At this time, no services are planned; however, Davis would want any
>> donations on his behalf to go to the Macaulay Library where he submitted
>> 1,175 bird sound recordings from Guyana, obtained from 20 expeditions.
>> >
>> > https://www.macaulaylibrary.org/ >> >
>> >
>> > Steve Mirick
>> > Bradford, MA
>> >
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