[Tweeters] Brian Bell

[Michael Hobbs]

It is with a very heavy heart that I relate that Brian Bell passed away
last weekend.

Brian arrived in the PNW in 1995, already a very serious birder.  He came
to us from the Sacramento area, where he had been president of Sacramento
Audubon, led and arranged field trips, helped manage the 400+ acre
Bobelaine Audubon Sanctuary along the Feather River, and was a co-author of
Areas of Critical Concern, a book which identifies valuable natural areas
in the greater Sacramento area.

Once arriving here, he continued his strong interest in promoting birding
and teaching others, becoming a board member for Eastside Audubon and the
Washington Ornithological Society (WOS), serving as Field Trip Chair for
Seattle Audubon, and leading field trips for Eastside Audubon, Seattle
Audubon, WOS, the Othello Sandhill Crane Festival, and the Gray's Harbor
Shorebird Festival.

That's not just a few field trips.  He led probably at least 100 trips to
Whidbey Island alone.  Brian led more field trips than any other birder I
know, a huge commitment towards teaching people about birds and birding.
Always, he not only led a field trip, but turned it into a learning
experience for the participants.

Besides leading trips, he also taught many classes for Seattle Audubon
Society, Eastside Audubon Society, Shoreline Community College, and North
Seattle Community College. The courses included: Beginning Birding, Birds
of Puget Sound, Water Birds, Woodpeckers, Birding by Habitat, and Summer
Birds of the Mountains.

He was one of the early Seattle Audubon Master Birders.

He ran his own guiding business under the business name of Peregrine
Northwest, helping out-of-town birders find our local specialties.

He authored of Birds of Washington State (from Lone Pine Publishing)

In 2019, I was honored to present the Zella M. Schulz Award Brian at the
WOS conference in Moses Lake.

In addition to all of that, Brian was effectively the co-founder of the
Marymoor Survey.  When we first met, on the boardwalk at Marymoor Park in
1995, it wasn’t even a survey yet; just me, a beginning birder, walking
around and keeping a list once each week.

Brian started coming out with me almost every week, and taught me
everything he could.  Suddenly, “I” was finding more birds.  He taught me
the concept of birding by ear, and then tirelessly worked to actually teach
me the bird songs and calls.

And this continued for over 1000 surveys from 1995 through our survey last
week!  He also covered for me on 125 surveys when I was sick, injured, or
out-of-town.

The common theme throughout this list of contributions is that Brian made a
tremendous commitment to teaching others, an amazing gift that a huge
number of people have benefited from.

I am sure that Brian will be greatly missed by the PNW birding community.
And I can’t even fathom the reality that he will no longer be birding at my
elbow on every Thursday morning.

= Michael Hobbs
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