Mike Milton Remembered

We are sad to report that Mike Milton, long time chapter activist, passed away on October 24, 2004. He was with his companion, Judy Schaefer, at their new second home in Buena Vista Colorado. He died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack. Mike and Judy for many years worked tirelessly and have been a major force for the DC Audubon chapter. Many of you may have seen his black Celica convertible at the region's birding hot spots. His DC plates, which read "Motmot," reflected his very large life list, accumulated in travels to Great Britain, India, Ethiopia, North Africa, Russia, and in many trips to Mexico, Central and South America. Since he could "talk birds" for hours, his many other interests--a love for poetry in English, Spanish, and Russian, for example--were not always apparent. I remember being with him one evening a couple of years ago in North Carolina while doing the Ocracoke Christmas Bird count. A group of us got into a long evening of Trivial Pursuit in which he cleaned all of our clocks. I'll never forget the slow, sly smile that would appear before he provided an answer that no one else would know (and perhaps should know!). Mike was a graduate of both Harvard College and Harvard Law (cum Laude) and worked for many years at the law firm of Krooth and Altman. Over the many years I have known him, he rarely turned down an offer to go birding, even on the basis of an impulsive last-minute phone call; I can remember perhaps twice him saying he couldn't go, and that was when some professional matter demanded his attention. He was a charter member and long time officer of the DC Audubon chapter. Many birders knew him in his role as the compiler for the C&O Canal Midwinter bird count, started in 1999 and sponsored by the chapter. The C&O Canal is 184 miles long, and with teams covering 2-3 miles each, this event is perhaps the longest bird count anywhere. Being the 3rd weekend in January, this count has usually been hampered by bad weather, yet in 2002, 178 of the 184 miles were covered! Mike's reports on these counts, and his exhaustive compilation of mile-by-mile, bird-by-bird count data can be found on the C&O Canal page. Just recently he planned to live part time in DC and in Colorado. He was planning a grouse trip in the spring and hoped to finally see winter ptarmigan. We will all miss him greatly. Peter Vankevich Washington, DC