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Originally published in the Nov./Dec. 2005 issue of the Albatross, vol 50, no. 2
The Santa Cruz Bird Club’s First Fifty Years Part 2: 1966 to 1975 By David L. Suddjian
Two significant awakenings in the larger world helped to shape the Santa Cruz Bird Club (SCBC) in its second decade. The “Ecology Movement” – taking off strongly in the 1960s and 1970s – directed the interests of local birders toward conservation issues that related directly and indirectly to birds, both locally and afar. At the same time the California birding community experienced a revolution, termed by Don Roberson the “Age of Discovery” [1965-69] and the “A Renaissance” [1970-79] in his excellent web page feature on California Birding History (http://montereybay.com/creagrus/CAwhoswhointro.html). This revolution would lead to a new understanding of birding possibilities, a radical increase in bird knowledge, and, by the end of the club’s second decade, would birth a new cadre of birders who would lead the club into its future. Under these influences the SCBC continued forward on its stated purpose: to study and conserve wild birds, and promote good fellowship and social activity for bird lovers. Club president Lester Cox began 1966 by considering the varied answers to the question, “Why do you have a Bird Club?” After offering several reasons, he concluded, “…yet another important reason is to be a collective influence for conservation and to interest others in birds, often beautiful, always exciting…So let us continue our birding AND help the club to be an instrument which will further the conservation of wildlife.” The club had a conservation director from its inception, but over its initial decade the Albatross recorded little of the club’s involvement in significant conservation issues. In spring 1966 president Cox identified conservation as “the one area that we touch lightly,” and called for more interest and attention from the membership. His call was soon answered, as a Conservation Committee was formed that summer, with new member Elaine Campbell as its director. The committee gave the role of mentoring and encouraging young birders as one of its first challenges to the membership. To that end the club became actively involved with presentations for schools and scout troops, and took pride in its several junior members. For the next several years, conservation notes were a regular feature in the Albatross, and interested members were encouraged to linger after the monthly meetings to discuss pressing issues. Conservation issues considered by the SCBC during this decade included protection of Schwan Lake and Neary Lagoon (the latter threatened by filling, development and a proposed freeway link!), a proposed dam and reservoir in the new Forest of Nisene Marks State Park, land acquisition at Big Basin and Pescadero Marsh, establishment of Point Reyes National Seashore, oil drilling in Monterey Bay, development along the county’s north coast, pesticides, and air quality. Things really took off under the guidance of Conservation Director Philippa Pfieffer (1968-71), who in 1969 would be named “Conservationist of the Year” by the Loma Prieta Chapter of the Sierra Club. Activity in this arena waned somewhat after Pfieffer’s tenure, but was revived when David Bockman (still an active member) took on the post in 1974. The SCBC’s second decade marked a changing of the guard and the beginnings of a generational shift. Several charter members became inactive or moved away during this time, and some important early members passed on: Emory Bacon (1966), Harry Smith (1968), Jessie Hooper and Franz Erkelens (1970), Henry Washburn (1972), and Leavitt McQuestin (1973). Some early members continued strong into this decade, such as Mac McQuestin, Viola Anderson (who “kept this organization operating”), Viola Washburn, Stanley Mythaler, and Wallace Rankin. In 1972 the Alby reported that 22 of 86 charter members were still in the club, but perusal of the names suggests to me just six of those were truly “active” members. New faces stepped onto the scene. The first mention in the Alby of names of members still active in the club today (or active in recent years) included Randy Morgan and Todd Newberry (1966), John and Ricky Warriner (1968), and Barbara Scharfenstein (1970). Other new faces stepping into the forefront of the club’s activities were Dorothy Lilly, William Anderson, Winifred Greene, Marilyn Watson, Clarence Warwick, Dave Bockman, Nanci Adams, Fred Jewett, Bob Ramer, and Bruce LaBar. Although apparently not then active in the club, current club mainstay Steve Gerow received a first mention in the Alby in 1972, reporting a sighting of his from the Pinnacles. Field trips remained a staple of the SCBC’s activities. The Albatross announced 196 field trips over this decade, down slightly from 212 trips offered in the first decade. These trips visited some 58 general areas, two thirds in Santa Cruz County. Trips outside the county went more often to San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, and less to Monterey County than in the first decade. Trips were often well-attended, led by one to Natural Bridges in February 1967 which was reported in the Alby to have attracted 25% of the club’s membership! Frequent destinations in Santa Cruz County included the “Albatross Expeditions” on Monterey Bay, Mount Hermon, Natural Bridges State Beach and West Cliff Drive, Schwan Lake and Corcoran Lagoon, New Brighton State Beach, Pajaro Dunes, Pinto Lake, and Rancho Del Oso. Favored sites out of the county included Año Nuevo State Reserve, Pescadero Marsh, Palo Alto Baylands, Los Banos area refuges, Moss Landing and Elkhorn Slough. A 1969 bus trip to view the nesting herons and egrets at Audubon Canyon Ranch at Bolinas in Marin County was hailed in the Alby as the “gala event of the year.” An owling trip in 1967 began the club’s tradition of “Non-Owling Events,” as none of the night birds were found. An unusual trip to Rio Del Mar was planned for August 18, 1969 to commemorate “The Day the Shearwaters Landed” – looking back to that date in 1961 when 100s of shearwaters were wrecked ashore in the mid-county region. The trip report mentions that “millions” of shearwaters were seen five days before the commemoration, but sadly the trip itself did not enjoy a fly-in, as only a few hundred appeared. Another oddity was a trip to “Gurnee Freze-Dri Taxidermy” in Watsonville, where participants learned about vacuum freeze-drying methods that preserved whole specimens intact. Mac McQuestin’s annual “Albatross Expeditions” remained the club’s most popular annual trip. Run each June, these pelagic trips were always sold out, with 50 to 60 birders aboard. Fall trips in October were added in 1972. The price remained a bargain $1.50 through 1972, eventually rising to a still tempting $6.00 by 1975. Mac announced his retirement as leader in 1971, on the event of his 15th Expedition for the club. Subsequent Expeditions were led by Vi Anderson, William Anderson, Peter Metropulos and Randy Morgan. Field trip destinations and reports from this decade reveal a growing trend toward exploration of lesser known birding areas, and a nascent interest in actively seeking rarities. Toward this latter goal, the announcement for a June 1971 trip to Gazos Creek reached a bit far in advertising Veery (!) as a target bird; maybe that was but an error and the nesting Swainson’s Thrushes were intended. William Anderson was the club’s most frequent leader during this decade. Referred to in the Alby as “our birdwatcher par excellance,” Anderson (recalled affectionately as “Wild Bill” by Randy Morgan) worked for the California Department of Fish and Game and was well traveled. He would inspire many in the club, and mentored budding field ornithologists Morgan and Peter Metropulos. Wild Bill was a tireless leader, and trip participants had to be tireless as well to keep up with him. One trip report suggested “track team experience” was helpful to allow close approach to the leader during the outing. Bill led the club to many new places, and in 1971 was made an honorary life member “in appreciation of his many fine programs and trips.” Other frequent leaders were Viola Anderson, Dorothy Lilly, Doris Kelly, Warren Baldwin, John Warriner, and Randy Morgan. Bruce LaBar, soon to be one of the club’s leading members, debuted as leader in October 1975. The Club continued to meet in the multi-purpose room of the Branciforte Jr. High School in Santa Cruz. It offered 83 monthly programs during this decade. Some were films, but slide programs were now more frequent. The decade saw a growing emphasis on programs that focused on certain groups of birds, and included discussion of identification. Bill Anderson was the most frequent presenter of the decade, joined by a nice assemblage of others that included several noted naturalists and biologists. Among these were Alan Baldridge, Richard Mewaldt, Burney LeBeouf, Ken Briggs, and Todd Newberry. Newberry’s program in February 1974 had the somewhat mysterious title, “Birds in the Bush and Ethics in the Air.” As interesting as it may have been, upon a recent inquiry Todd could not recall what the talk was actually about. Well, it has been 30 years! Another program of note was given in September 1974 by Steve Singer presenting the discovery of the nest of the Marbled Murrelet at Big Basin the month before. The Christmas Bird Count continued strong through this decade, growing significantly in participation and quality of coverage. Numbers of species and birds recorded on the count increased accordingly. Another popular annual winter event was the SCBC’s Christmas Dinner, often held at Facelli’s Restaurant on West Cliff Drive. This was a turkey dinner with all the trimmings (for just $2.75 in 1967), together with a special program for the evening. An impressive 112 people attended the dinner in 1969. The SCBC grew steadily over the decade, with new members often including those hailing from out of the county, and even other states. It had some 150 members in 1966 and grew to nearly 300 by 1975. But numbers were sometimes deceiving. For example, of 254 on the roster in 1970, Membership Director McQuestin reported that 188 had dues that were six or more months delinquent! Perhaps our current Membership Director would say that things haven’t changed all that much. Annual dues for the club remained $1.50 for most of this decade, increasing to $2.50 by 1974. The Albatross newsletter remained remarkably constant over the decade. Its four to eight pages offered the usual trip and program announcements, trip reports (often dominated by thorough listings of species found), notes on conservation issues or other items of local interest, news of members, reports of recent sightings, and occasional messages from the president or other officers. Topical articles or special features were notably few. Reports of bird sightings were one of the Alby’s most interesting features. These were compiled by the editor over much of the decade and went unvetted. Vi Anderson took over the compilation in 1973, replaced by Dorothy Lilly in 1974 and Randy Morgan in 1975. Now some sifting and evaluation of records began to occur, but oddities still seemed to slip through. Reports often mentioned sightings of birds from out of the county, but began to focus more on Santa Cruz County alone by the close of the decade. Frequently cited observers were numerous, but several of the most prominent contributors were Vi Anderson, Florence Haas, Grace Scribner, Adist Boylan, Bill Anderson, Dorothy Lilly, Winifred Greene, John and Ricky Warriner, David Bockman, Ed McClintock, Barbara Scharfenstein, Bob Ramer, Randy Morgan, Peter Metropulos, and Eugene Makishima. Several good rarities were noted over these years, and the period saw the advent of regular occurrences of fall vagrant warblers. But a handful of strange reports offer the most amusement in hindsight. A die-off of up to 1000 Sooty Shearwaters along the south county coast on August 10, 1966 was due to drowning after over-eating. A dead Brown Pelican at Twin Lakes Beach on January 4, 1967 had the feet of a dead Western Grebe protruding from its bill, apparently both the victims of an “accident.” Mourning Doves were reported to be notably scarce at Santa Cruz on December 2, 1972 because “most [had] left for South Dakota on November 8.” The club closed its second decade with the advent of one of its most valuable and enduring contributions. In the January - February 1975 issue of the Alby Randy Morgan announced the “Santa Cruz County Bird File.” Morgan, then 28 years old, reported that in November 1973 “a scheme was hatched to collect into one big File as much as possible of the published and unpublished information pertaining to the distribution of birds in Santa Cruz County…The idea of the Bird File is to enable interested people to get the most accurate possible picture of relative abundance, local distribution, nesting status, extra-limital occurrences, etc., of the birds in Santa Cruz County, past, present, and future.” Morgan had spent a year reviewing a wide range of publications, journals and periodicals to form the historic foundation for the “Bird File,” and now he invited club members to submit their own unpublished sightings, and to keep and report records of their future noteworthy observations. The “Bird File” was the beginning of the archive that is now called “the county bird records.” Even setting aside the additional work that would go into its development over the next several years, Morgan’s thorough attention given to the formation of the “Bird File” was one of the most significant contributions made by a club member, and one of the club’s greatest gifts to Santa Cruz County ornithology.
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