Richard Beidleman

[Hugh Kingery]

Dick Beidleman inspired me in many ways. After seeing his name in an Audubon Field Notes issue that published Breeding Bird Censuses, I wrote to him - out of the blue - to ask where I could get a summer job. He suggested that I apply for summer work at Rocky Mtn Natl Park.

In the two summers that I worked in Rocky Mtn Natl Park as a Ranger-Naturalist, he taught me how to give talks to tourists and how to take them on Naturalist walks in the park. In his work there he always injected humor with his extensive knowledge of the park and its critters. And of course I learned all sorts of things by this magic association.

He helped me to improve my paltry efforts at Breeding Bird Censuses (then published in Audubon Field Notes, subsequently American Birds) and expanded my understanding of how to conduct them. One tenet - keep them going; don't stop after a couple of years or dally into one project, then dash into another. This principle applies to any sort of bird study that we start.

He had a passion for the Black Forest (NE of Colorado Springs) because it resembles an island of habitat. One Black Forest species particularly intrigued him: the Tufted-Ear Squirrel. Because of his attachment to the Black Forest, he started the Black Forest Christmas Bird Count, that piece of his legacy continued today by Judy von Ahlefeldt and others.

Dick's daughter, Carol, advises that Memorial Services will occur at Shrove Chapel, Colorado College campus, at 9 a.m., Sunday, October 12.

Hugh Kingery
Franktown, CO