Jimmy Carter—Celebrity Birder
I believe that I initially became aware of former U.S. president Jimmy Carter’s interest in birds through this 1998 story from BirdChat, which describes a brief birding foray by Jimmy and wife Rosalynn in Harare, Zimbabwe, to track down an African Hoopoe.
His birding interests were next publicly discussed in conjunction with a four-day visit that the Carter’s made to the Rio Grande Valley of Texas in April 2004. The article notes that the Carter's "have birded in 25 countries, including Nepal, Japan, the Philippines, China, and recently Bolivia," and boast a very respectful life-list total of about 1,155 species.
Mr. Carter’s first-person account of his visit to the Lower Rio Grande Valley, as published in The Birderwatcher’s Digest, can be read here and here.
This was followed by an interview about Mr. Carter’s birding adventures that appeared in the October/November issue of National Wildlife, in which he speaks knowingly about changes in bird populations in rural Georgia that have been documented by the Breeding Bird Survey.
More recently, Mr. Carter visited a bird ringing station (we say banding, they say ringing, but it’s really just the same thing) during a visit to Israel in January 2005.
And finally, I’m sure that the folks at Santa Barbara Software Products (designers and distributors of BirdBase and BirdArea) are delighted by this personal testimonial:
His birding interests were next publicly discussed in conjunction with a four-day visit that the Carter’s made to the Rio Grande Valley of Texas in April 2004. The article notes that the Carter's "have birded in 25 countries, including Nepal, Japan, the Philippines, China, and recently Bolivia," and boast a very respectful life-list total of about 1,155 species.
Mr. Carter’s first-person account of his visit to the Lower Rio Grande Valley, as published in The Birderwatcher’s Digest, can be read here and here.
This was followed by an interview about Mr. Carter’s birding adventures that appeared in the October/November issue of National Wildlife, in which he speaks knowingly about changes in bird populations in rural Georgia that have been documented by the Breeding Bird Survey.
More recently, Mr. Carter visited a bird ringing station (we say banding, they say ringing, but it’s really just the same thing) during a visit to Israel in January 2005.
And finally, I’m sure that the folks at Santa Barbara Software Products (designers and distributors of BirdBase and BirdArea) are delighted by this personal testimonial:
"We’re enjoying your programs, and sighting new birds on all our trips." – Jimmy Carter, GeorgiaDisclaimer: I have no financial interests in Santa Barbara Software Products.
posted by John L. Trapp at
6/01/2006 10:06:00 AM
2 Comments:
I am a birder from New York City and had an encounter with Jimmy Carter's 'posse' at the Boathouse in New York City's Central Park.
At the time I was making a note in the Bird Register at the Boat House and was asked by someone in Jimmy Carter's party if I was done with the book. Mr. Carter then read a number of entries and left his own in the book which was probably removed & copied so that the original wouldn't be stolen.
Thanks for the write-up on Jimmy 'The Birder' Carter.
Ben:
Thanks for sharing your "close up and personal" encounter with Jimmy Carter. Great stuff!
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