Date: 3/4/26 11:54 am From: Thomas Wurster via groups.io <wurster...> Subject: [OrangeCountyBirding] Fw: a tribute to Jim Pike
Forwarding to the list serve at Jon's request
I learned of Jim's passing from Richard Erickson who wrote to me while I was in Thailand in late February. Needless to say I was shocked and greatly saddened.
I first became aware of Jim through a juvenile Black-billed Cuckoo he found in Huntington Beach on 4 October 1989. I was fortunate enough to see the bird the day after it was found on 5 October. It is only one of two that I have seen in California. While I remember the cuckoo I can't remember if Jim was there on the 5th. Later that fall, a Field Sparrow, the 2nd for California, was found at the west side of Irvine Regional Park by Jeff and Becky Boyd. I was overseas and by the time I returned in mid-December it had already moved on, or so it was thought. But, it was re-found by Jim early in January on the east side of Irvine Regional Park. He found it on the 5th and I managed to eventually see it on the 6th with help from Brian Daniels and Doug Willick. I was grateful to Jim for re-finding it. Memories of birding experiences dim over the decades, but that one and my gratitude to Jim remain firmly "present" for me. I eventually thanked Jim personally. Not unexpectedly, he was nonplussed, and that made me smile.
I can't say I frequently birded with Jim over the decades but was certainly aware of his many ornithological contributions. As others have commented, although Jim is principally known from Orange County and the Prado Basin just to the east, he regularly made sojourns with Kim to the eastern California deserts in Inyo County where they made many important bird discoveries. I knew him better through his three terms on the CBRC. Jim was a thoughtful, steady, and important member of the CBRC. I didn't always agree with Jim, but he delivered his written views with clarity and civility. This carried over into the annual Committee meetings.
Interestingly, it was at one of these meetings that I will most remember Jim. He had a personal gift for me, a book he had just read. It was about the Mexican War of 1846-1848. It was written by Amy S. Greenberg (published by Vintage Books in 2012) and was titled "A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln, and the 1846 U.S. invasion of Mexico." Jim must have known of my interest in history and thought this book in particular would be of interest to me. Indeed it was. I've read it several times and I use it as a text for a birds and history field trip I do in connection with the Rio Grande Birding Festival which takes place in Harlingen, Texas. Greenburg's book is more about the cultural and political history, less on the military history. In the book it extensively quotes a little known anti-war speech by a little known new Whig congressman from Illinois, Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln's speech, delivered on the House floor on 12 January 1848 ripped into the false pretext for the war. His mentor, Henry Clay, was also against the war. In the short term Lincoln's speech was used against him. He was not re-elected to Congress in the next election, and failed in his Senate bid against Stephen A. Douglas in 1858. I knew nothing previously of Lincoln's early 1848 speech. The political pundit and Lincoln admirer, William Kristol, did know about it and sent me a short note stating it was one of the best anti-war speeches ever delivered. When I read the excerpts from Greenberg's book of Lincoln's speech during the trip, I think of Jim. I have purchased several copies of the book to send to friends as gifts and purchased an extra copy for myself in case I should misplace it!
Jim spent much of his time birding away from the broader birding community but his colleagues within the CBRC, the environmental community and his closer birding friends know of his many significant contributions to California field ornithology. He will be greatly missed.
