A Bird Watching Legacy
People and Happenings
A Bird Watching Legacy
For many decades, bird watching at Mount Auburn Cemetery has been a much enjoyed hobby for Honorary Trustees Susan Paine and Herb Pratt, and longtime Mount Auburn supporter, Betty Valentine.
Herb Pratt has a longstanding relationship with the Cemetery. His grandfather, Charles H. Watson, was a Mount Auburn Cemetery Trustee from 1900-1910. Herb followed in these footsteps and served as a Mount Auburn Cemetery Trustee from 1970-2000, and has since been an Honorary Cemetery Trustee. He is also an Honorary Director for Mass Audubon.
It was in 1938, when he was 15 years old, that a friend from school told him that Mount Auburn was a great place to bird. Herb said he would swipe the family car from his Chestnut Hill home to sneak off to the Cemetery and indulge in his hobby. While he and his schoolmate roamed around, they would see renowned ornithologists and biologists like Ludlow Griscom and Ernst Mayr conducting their own observations. Although Herb never had the chance to go on a bird walk with Griscom, who happened to be the neighbor of Herb’ s future wife, Pat, he now admits that he wishes he’ d asked the famed ornithologist to take him around.
“ It’ s sort of an oasis, dripping with trees” Herb says of Mount Auburn.“ Open land like that in the middle of Cambridge, it just attracts the birds, especially warblers. You can go up to the Tower and see the nighthawks in late August. You never know what you’ re going to see.”
Herb’ s interest in birding started with his love of being outdoors.“ I like being outdoors and keeping a bird list. You can really increase your list if you go to Mount Auburn at least once a week in the spring.”
Among his memories are spotting some Cerulean Warblers, something not easily forgotten. Red-tailed Hawks are some of his favorite birds to see at the Cemetery. He frequents Willow Pond and the Dell, but he also has several feeders in his own backyard and is able to appreciate birds year round.“ I think it’ s sort of a game. I tell young people‘ I don’ t care what you collect or look at, but look at something.’”
Susan Paine is an Honorary Trustee of the Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery and has been birding at Mount Auburn since the 1970s when she and her friend, Betty Valentine, were taking a Mass Audubon bird watching class. She has continued since then to frequent the Cemetery and always looks forward to the spring migration.
“ Mount Auburn birders are certainly an ardent group who know every square inch of the Cemetery and where the birds can be found. It is definitely a unique and special community,” she says.
A memorable experience at Mount Auburn is seeing the Screech Owl peek out of its hole. To beginner birders, she says,“ Look, look, look. Wherever you are, take notice
16 | Sweet Auburn
Herb Pratt at home in Cambridge with a sculpture done by his brother-in-law, Charles Greenough Chase.
of the characteristics of a bird flying by.” Having the right binoculars and optics is very important to the satisfaction of viewing birds.
But most importantly, Susan says of Mount Auburn,“ In order to become a bird watching enthusiast there have to be birds in the area to hear, see, and watch. People generally start in their own back yard and branch out from there. Mount Auburn Cemetery, positioned on a major flyway with new and old growth providing a variety of( and ample) food for birds, is the gift of a magical and abundant backyard for all who live in Boston and its environs. People from all over the world come during the migration seasons to experience what we are lucky enough to have easy access to.”
Betty Valentine, a longtime Mount Auburn supporter, started birding seriously in the early 1970s when she took the same Mass Audubon class with Susan Paine. She became hooked. This class was her first visit to Mount Auburn as a birder, although she had previously visited the Cemetery for family burials.
“ For me, and I believe for most other birders in Mount Auburn, it is all a spring event— really an April and May event; and it’ s a reunion of sorts. You see people you haven’ t seen for a year, people whose names you have forgotten or never knew. Everyone is delighted to see one another,” says Betty of the birding community.
“ Over the last forty-one years I have had some memorable bird experiences at Mount Auburn. Perhaps my favorite was hearing a Worm-eating Warbler in the Dell, and then after some searching, spotted it— the first of the year. In no time a crowd had gathered. That was pretty special, and I have always been partial to Worm-eating Warblers, anyway.”
Not every trip to Mount Auburn has to result in a rare sighting to be memorable. Betty also recalls one year when she was leading a group from Drumlin Farm on May 9, and it started to snow. After staying in the shelter of the Egyptian Revival Gatehouse for about half an hour, they gave up and went home. Their bird list for that day: one robin. But still better than nothing!