[Maine-birds] The passing of Davis Finch

It is with great sadness that I have to share with you the passing of
Davis Finch who died last night at the age of 87.

While new birders may not know of him, Davis was a legend to me in my
early days of birding in the 1980's and 1990's.  He co-founded Wings
Bird Tours with Will Russell in 1973 and led the idyllic life of a
birder who traveled around the world to see birds and share sightings
with birdwatchers from around the world.  Although Davis led bird trips
all over the world, his specialty was in the tropics where he led more
than 90 trips, concentrating on Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and
especially Guyana in later years.  I only came to know him personally in
the 1990's and was proud and fortunate to be able to travel with Davis
to Guyana in 1997 toward the end of his tour leading career.  His skills
as a birder and the breadth of his knowledge were incredible and
respected by all.

While Davis spent a good part of his adult life traveling around the
world, his home was always in East Kingston, and his contributions to
New Hampshire's bird records spanned 7 decades with personal records
dating back at least until 1953!  Some of his noteworthy discoveries
included the State's second record for Blue-winged Warbler in 1955, the
third state record for House Finch in Errol (of all places!!) in 1967,
the first State record of Fish Crow in Kingston in 1971, an Ash-throated
Flycatcher in his yard in 2005, a Black Vulture in his yard in 2009
(back when they were rare in NH!), a Yellow-headed Blackbird in his yard
in 2012, and more recently, the first (and only) State record of
Eurasian Collared-Dove just down the street from his house in 2016. Many
will recall Davis warmly welcoming birders into his yard to see many of
the other rare and not so rare birds over the last 20 years.  His famous
"meat pile" was visited by wintering Bald Eagles, Vultures, and gulls,
as well as the many birders and photographers who showed up to witness
this spectacle!

His contributions to New Hampshire's bird records and his educational
and conservation activities in the State culminated in New Hampshire
Audubon awarding him the prestigious Goodhue-Elkins Award in 2016.

https://www.nhaudubon.org/wp-content/uploads/Goodhue-Elkins-2016-Finch.pdf

His warm smile and polite and soft demeanor will be missed.

Just a couple of photos of Davis:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevemirick/albums/72177720321332880/

At this time, no services are planned; however, Davis would want any
donations on his behalf to go to the Macaulay Library where he submitted
1,175 bird sound recordings from Guyana, obtained from 20 expeditions.

https://www.macaulaylibrary.org/


Steve Mirick
Bradford, MA

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