Thank you, Elizabeth, for letting the bird community about gentle-spirited Todd.
I like to take you up on the story telling:
A long time ago I went to one of his talks @ the UCSC Arboretum. I was early - so I meandered around the Botanic Garden ~ just watching birds ~ when I saw a man starring @ a bush. I walked up to him & asked what he was watching & he’s said "Birds”. I admitted I love doing that, too. So we had this delightful exchange of quirky bird behavior stories, peppered w/lots of laughter. I told him that I was excited to hear Todd Newberry's talk, although I was a lousy birder, because I tend to get lost in just observing their behaviors. His replied that my observation trend made me a good birder. We parted ways. Encouraged by his remark, I went to the talk & almost keeled over when the speaker was introduced: He was the man with whom I had just exchanged funny feather vignettes & his talk was excellent.
Many years later I got to tell him how grateful I was for his gift of setting me free to be a ‘quirky’ birder. He belly-laughed & said ”Good for you”. He was a Mensch through & through, gifting us so much of his bird passion.
A Chirpy Thank You, Todd, for sharing so generously with us.
jane mio
> On Feb 15, 2026, at 2:25 PM, 'Elizabeth Van Dyke' via mbbirds <mbbirds...> wrote:
>
> If anyone has a Todd story I’m sure others will appreciate hearing about it.
