Thirty Years Ago—and a Loss
I heard of a passing recently: Ralph Odell. In one of my previous lifetimes, I was able to go birding with three fellows: Henry Turner, Marc Breslav, and Ralph Odell—I was privileged to be on a bird-a-thon team with them in both 1990 and 1991. This was out of the Putnam Highlands Audubon Society, fifty miles north of New York City, in Philipstown, across the Hudson from West Point.
A bird-a-thon is a competitive event where teams strive to see as many species they can in a 24-hour period. We used this activity to raise money for our chapter, and would be successful enough to put up a building at Constitution Marsh Sanctuary, in Garrison, New York.
I had become a rabid birder immediately after moving out of Brooklyn in the spring of 1989. I fell in with the Audubon crowd in Garrison and made acquaintance with Marc Breslav (bearded fellow seen here). He, in turn, invited me to join their bird-a-thon team in 1990. Henry Turner (man with mustache here) was an outstanding birder who traveled the world building his life-list; he took me under his wing and taught me much about birding, for which I’m thankful. Ralph Odell (clean-shaven, seen alone in final image above) was a kind, older gentleman, soft-spoken, widower, who had been a school teacher in Garrison. Despite me being green, we won the competition during my first year, that of 1990.
I believe we typically began on Jones Beach, and Jamaica Bay, on Long Island, and worked our way back up to Putnam County. We’d then go further north and west, to Bashakill Marsh, over in Sullivan County, then back down to Bear Mountain, and other nice spots around the Hudson River. The point is to hit as many types of habitats as possible, and thus see the most species. After our win, I would be awarded a free week’s stay at the National Audubon’s camp on Hog Island, Maine.
But more importantly than that, I got to hang out with these people—we had fun, enjoyed the out-of-doors, and raised money for an organization that looks after the health of migratory bird species. I remember Ralph being a nice man, but it’s been a long time—his obituary reminded me of what I did know about him, and informed me of things about his life I did not know—I’ll link it here. I wish I’d spent more time with him when I had the chance.
Six images by Richard Koenig; taken in the state of New York during the years of 1990 and 1991.
