Date: 12/29/24 2:38 am From: Sandy Cash (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: John Fussell
My first memory of John was him nearly stepping on a white-winged crossbill
at Oregon inlet some twenty-seven years ago, and then being like, oh, hey,
there’s a white-winged crossbill under my feet. I had a signed copy of his
book that my dad gave me. RIP indeed.
-Sandy
Sandy Cash
Carrboro, NC, USA
On Sat, Dec 28, 2024 at 8:47 PM Derb Carter <carolinabirds...> wrote:
> North Carolina lost a giant in the birding community with the passing of
> John Fussell in Morehead City. John was a fixture in NC birding for sixty
> years starting as a teenager, pursuing hi interest at NC State, then
> returning to Morehead City. He knew the birds and every birding corner along
> his beloved NC coast like no one else. In fact, he wrote the book. UNC
> Press published his Birder's Guide to Coastal North Carolina in 1994 and it
> remains the definitive guide.
>
> John eagerly volunteered to lead field trips at CBC meetings, Wings Over
> Water, and other gatherings and many birders in the Carolinas got to know
> him through these trips. The one thing you could almost be certain of on
> one of John's trips is you were going to get your feet soaked within the
> first hour. If the shortest way was dry, John would take the long way
> through the marsh or tidal flats on the chance of flushing a rail, sparrow,
> or wren.
>
> John was also well known outside the state as THE guy who could show you
> your first Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Swainson's Warbler, or Black Rail. His
> knowledge of NC coastal birds and birding sites was unparalleled.
>
> He also cared deeply about protecting important habitats and as an
> accomplished naturalist contributed his knowledge and observations to the
> identification and preservation of lands by state and federal agencies and
> conservation organizations. In recent years, he frequently visited the
> massive wetland restoration project at North River Farms documenting the
> changing bird communities as the wetlands are restored.
>
> John was understated and it was hard to tell when he was excited. In 1982
> I found a Masked Duck on a lake in the Croatian Forest. I didn't have a way
> to document it so called John and he raced over with his camera. After an
> extended search we relocated it and John got photos, about the most excited
> I ever saw him. A few years later some of us were birding on Pea Island
> dikes at the end of a long day when John walked up. We exchanged greetings
> and started talking about mundane things when John casually mentioned "Oh,
> I just had a Northern Wheatear in Avon." We, of course, all raced down to
> see this first documented NC record.
>
> In 1986, John, Ricky Davis, Merrill Lynch, Allen Bryan, and I decided to
> see how many species we could see in NC in one day, a Big Day. John was
> working on the Outer Banks at the time and when we made it there in the
> afternoon he had staked out numerous rarities, like a Black-billed Cuckoo
> he on a hunch found in a tent caterpillar infested tree. We kept ticking
> through birds including rails and bittern at night and at midnight had
> recorded 184 species, a record still standing after nearly four decades. It
> would never have happened without John.
>
> John was an avid participant in Christmas Bird Counts, including the
> Morehead City count he started as a teenager and ran for over 60 years. He
> also participated every year in the Wilmington CBC which will be held next
> weekend. John always covered undeveloped Masonboro Island. Sun, wind,
> rain, or snow he would be dropped off on the north end by boat first thing
> in the morning and walk the eight and a half miles to the south end to be
> picked up late afternoon. The gulls, terns, shorebirds, and pelicans will
> be looking for him on Saturday and will miss him. We will all miss him.
>
> Derb Carter
>
> I have attached a profile of John from a few years ago.
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://coastalreview.org/2017/02/19052/__;!!OToaGQ!sA5o38UAjQMbXHIGxkg9iBgEsA5aw0Ji89hnLmXY8vD-YeaICsgh9vd7pcErveylNOGRzQ8C7JD84bUK0FABdhB_aJwy3A$ > <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://coastalreview.org/2017/02/19052/__;!!OToaGQ!sNj6d1utyL8cJfHBsh1hsWDohHzryf2jSS7Itco32bOzCCNSPLLBZvRzMNRhq5OyCmHkA3CmMweUzxFdDIVE$> >
