Due to bad light and shy birds I didn’t get any images yesterday to be proud of but a chance encounter with two old friends more than made up for it. The encounter took place in the wilds of Montana and the old friends are Terry Tempest Williams and her husband Brooke. Terry is a highly acclaimed author, conservationist and activist and both Terry and Brooke have been very active in the environmental movement for decades. I’m sure many of my readers have read some of Terry’s exceptional books and some may be familiar with Brooke’s work with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA).
Many years ago I worked with Terry at the Utah Museum of Natural History and through Terry I got to know Brooke but I’ve only seen them once in the past 30+ years so it was pure delight to spend some time with them catching up. We reminisced about old times at the Museum and swapped stories about friends and acquaintences in the environmental movement. Both Terry and Brooke are the epitome of genuine, caring, passionate people and their devotion to environmental issues runs deep. If you’ve read any of Terry’s books it”s “what you see is what you get” – she wears her huge heart on her sleeve and a warm, caring heart it is. And the lady can write!
In an effort to avoid setting the precedent of publishing a post without including an image I’ll relate a story about Terry. And me. And a bird.
Sometime in the mid-80’s I made a trip to the Jackson Hole/Grand Teton National Park area with Terry and Brooke (and several others). At one point we came across a large black bird that Terry identified as a Common Raven. I disputed her ID and said it was an American Crow. Terry was gracious about it but she stuck to her guns and so did I. I shouldn’t have – Terry was right, it was a raven. Terry knew her birds!
I’ve been privately embarrassed by that incident for years. I can only blame my bluster and my stubbornness on relative youth and perhaps a bit of the macho of the time. I hope Terry forgot about it long ago – I certainly didn’t remind her of it yesterday.
Please forgive the personal nature of this post but the events of the day were significant for me and I decided to share.
Ron
Great story, Ron! Most people have made such ID mistakes in the past (and loudly proclaimed that they were right), only to find out the limit of their knowledge (or the abundance of their ignorance). It is an all-too-human failing, I’m afraid. And it is indeed true that American Crows are sometimes significantly bigger as you move east of the Rockies. And all AMCR are bigger than the Northwestern Crows of Canada’s and the US’s Pacific coast. I would also add that size is always difficult to judge, especially when looking at moving objects at a distance.
What’s to forgive about personal sharing? The things you share are always interesting, and I am always interested in getting to know you better. I relate well to how you were about the bird ID. I still do that, but fortunately have learned to pursue my critter ID until I know the correct one, and back down if necessary. I’ve had a couple of encounters like that with one of the rangers at Hueco Tanks, who is as stubborn as I am, and so far those encounters have ended in a draw, where we’re both right (which is why I like Latin names for critters and plants). It’s an excellent learning opportunity.
I suspect I was one of the “others.” I think I remember Terry preparing us to bring the JSA kids to the Tetons that summer. That was special.
Yup, you were there in the Tetons with us, Deedee. So were Fran, Lisi and Diane if I remember correctly. Ahhhh, the good old days…
How lovely to have a day redeemed fron doom and gloom by meeting up with friends. And thank you. You have incited my bookie lust for an author about whom I knew less than nothing. And that lust got fanned by many comments.
I love Terry’s books and named my first Peregrine falcon “Tempest’ after her, since there was a peregrine on the cover of Refuge. Tempest was with me for some 20 years. I had the chance to meet Terry many years ago (1994 or 1995!), and was delighted to tour her around Cascades Raptor Center. She was visiting Barry Lopez – another amazing nature writer (who lives in our neck of the woods and occasionally transports injured birds for us – including ravens, more than once – he actually climbed down into a waste container at a garbage transfer site upriver in order to catch one injured raven!) – they are two of my heroes! What a gift they have with words – it’s like they can take my thoughts and express them in ways that take flight.
Hi Ron—at that time, Terry Tempest Williams’ book, “Refuge”, hadn’t yet been published ( came out in 1991 ), and you couldn’t have known that she was no birder to challenge on identification…….. to me ,one of the most delightful passages in that book related her childhood experiences with her grandmother, who was an experienced birder and started the child Terry on her life-long path as a naturalist. And, look how far you’ve come in just 35/40 years !
“you couldn’t have known that she was no birder to challenge on identification”
I wish I had that excuse, Kris. But I don’t.
Earlier I’d been on several field trips with Terry to Bear River MBR (the refuge featured in her book “Refuge – An Unnatural History of Family and Place”) and during those trips it was obvious that she knew her birds and knew them well. I thought I at least knew the difference between crows and ravens but it didn’t take me long to make a knucklehead out of myself when I tried to demonstrate it.
I can at least take solace in the fact that I learned my lesson.
I am deeply moved by Terry’s books. How wonderful for you to have known her – to bump into them in the wild is one of those rare, perfect gifts!
Loved the story, Ron & was so glad to see you are already having wonderful run-ins with good friends – a big part of the reason for this vacation. Hope your luck gets better with the wildlife you want to capture but already looks like you will bring back great memories of meeting old friends.
How nice to be able to connect with your friends. 🙂
Fantastic shot and a wonderful save for the day.
Charlotte
Ron, wish I could have listened in to your conversations with Terry Tempest Williams. Her preface in the 2015 issue of Thomas Berry’s the dream of the earth is worth a read for those times with no electronica. The crow/raven is great. Thanks for sharing everything.
Wonderful shot of the Raven. Their face can be hard to capture due to their coloring. I read where here in Calif. Ravens are smaller then the Ravens back east. When I first started to photograph Ravens, I had a debate with myself lol. I got online, and did some research. Indeed I had been watching Ravens. Just in case you are interested, here is some info.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/01/010102063046.htm
Interesting about the size difference between west coast and eastern ravens, Jean – that was new to me. I’m on an extremely slow and intermittent connection while camping so I’ll check out your link when I get a better signal.
Thanks for the article source, Jean. I had to go on line to figure out what type of black bird was visiting my bird feeder!! Ends up mine is a Fish crow!! How did we ever get the info we needed before the web?? I still can remember looking up info in our old set of encyclopedias (sp?)& having hardly anything there. I love how Ron & we followers share info like you did. I’m SO enjoying learning all I can!! Thanks again, Jean!!
Thank you for the Raven article, it was an interesting read.
Hi Ron,
I really enjoyed this post. IT shows that you are only human and we all make mistakes. It is a big person that still reflects on that misidentification of long ago, something many of us have done. I once convinced a whole team of birders that two Turkey Vultures were Golden Eagles. I’ve never forgotten that one!
Cheerrs,
Gail
Gail, I’m surprised by how long that memory has stuck with me. I call moments like those “oh no’s” and there’s been a few of them that I’d really like to live over again…