Shane Blodgett passed away due to lung cancer yesterday morning in the company of family in Brooklyn.
While he enjoyed birding throughout New York State and beyond, and at one point held the state big year record, Shane was especially fond of his local Kings County patches, and spent countless hours doggedly scouring the Brooklyn waterfront in the most inhospitable conditions. While some are drawn to birding to commune with nature, Shane would often be found birding on the side of the Belt Parkway, on dilapidated piers, parking garages and litter strewn parking lots, all in pursuit of interesting birds. His track record of finding Common and Short-billed Gulls over the years has been both astounding and confounding to those who scour coastal New York year after year without finding even one, and it’s safe to say that he singlehandedly changed our understanding of the status and distribution of these two species in the region. Many people on this listserv have been the beneficiaries of Shane’s rarity finding prowess as well his generosity and knowledge in the field. Shane was also a talented musician, and a regular in the NYC Bluegrass scene, regularly playing Sunday jams at Sunny’s in Red Hook, which he referred to as his church. Watching him perform posed strong evidence that birding was potentially Shane’s second favorite past time. Consistent in both pursuits was Shane’s sense of community and kindness. He will be deeply missed. Before Shane passed away, and as Shane transitioned to in home hospice, Sean Sime organized a living tribute to Shane. It was meant as a pre-death eulogy, so that Shane could see just how much he meant to the community. Here is the link to that: https://vimeo.com/740597034/47dd364686 Our deepest condolences to his dear wife Rachel, his two children, and the rest of the family. There will be information later on regarding a celebration of his life in Brooklyn. There will be others, but there will never be another. -Sean Sime and Doug Gochfeld -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
