The passing of Ann Kimball

[Steve Mirick]

It is with great sadness that I report the passing of Ann Kimball. She
died last week at the age of 95.

Ann lived her entire life in her house (where she was born!) in Berwick,
ME.  She shared this with her late husband Bill until his passing in
1992.  Ann was an active member of the Seacoast Chapter of NH Audubon
for many years (decades?) where she served on the board, led field trips
and actively supported the chapter in many ways.  For many years, Ann
participated in Christmas Bird Counts (Lee-Durham & Coastal) and she
also loved hiking up to the top of  Blue Job Mountain and watching hawk
migration from the summit. One of her favorite spots!  She continued
this as long as she could until her body finally gave up.

Ann was a great supporter and a friend of mine for nearly my entire
birding life since the 1980's and came to our wedding when Jane and I
got married in 2005.  She always bragged about the many times she fed me
when I was younger as I led field trips but always forgot to bring a
lunch!  I always brag that I saved her life when I had to carry her
through the water of an incoming tide at Hampton harbor on one of my
field trips when she carelessly got trapped out on the mud! :-)

One of Ann's rarest bird finds was when she and Linda Maley were leading
a Field Trip for the Seacoast Audubon in the November of 2001 along the
southern Maine coastline.  She and Linda found a strange looking bird at
Nubble Light parking area that was near a Lapland Longspur.  Ann knew it
wasn't another longspur and described it as looking like a tiny
Roadrunner!  Turns out it was a Sage Thrasher!   Up to that time, only
the 2nd record for all of New England!

An obituary for Ann can be found here:

https://tributearchive.com/obituaries/31057320/ann-elizabeth-kimball

And a couple of my photos of her can be found here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevemirick/53609929972/in/photostream/lightbox/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevemirick/53611254665/in/photostream/lightbox/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevemirick/53611254650/in/photostream/lightbox/

Ann will be missed.

Steve Mirick
Bradford, MA