Dear Birders,
It's with great sadness that we report the passing of F. Monty Brigham of Ottawa on November 10, 2017. Monty's birding interest began in the mid-1950s. During the 1960s and early1970s, he was a top field birder in a group that included Ron Pittaway, Dan Brunton, Don Lafontaine and John Dubois. Monty and companions mentored numerous younger Ottawa birders in the late 60s and early 70s including Bruce Di Labio, Tom Hince, Stephen O'Donnell, Bruce Mactavish, Brian Morin, Michael Runtz and others.
Monty’s field skills were the envy of fellow birders. He found lots of birds because he perfected the art of “squeaking” long before other birders used it. Monty also used a scope before most other birders had one. He loved doing Big Days in May and kept meticulous journal notes and records.
In the 1970s, Monty’s birding focus changed to recording bird songs and calls. He produced a number of Vinyl LP records including Songs of the Season, Pelee Spring and Algonquin Park. His biggest challenge would be the “Bird Sounds of Canada” which was a sound field guide to supplement Earl Godfrey's 2nd edition of “The Birds of Canada”. The three volumes and six CDs covering over 300 species aided hundreds of birders in learning bird songs. Monty’s friendly nature and bird recordings are his legacy.
Condolences can be e-mailed to Monty Brigham’s wife, Jane, at monty.j...@brighamit.com
There will be a service at Cedarview Alliance Church, 2784 Cedarview Road, Nepean, on Saturday, Nov. 18th at 11:30 a.m.
Bruce Di Labio and Ron Pittaway
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