Zaps: 53.5

Zaps are notes of awareness and pleas for action that appear in the corresponding print edition of Bird Observer. Here they are from the current issue.

Seth Kellogg Anthology Available

Seth Kellogg in Kenya, August 2005. Photograph by Janice Zepko.

An anthology of birding articles written by former Bird Observer contributor, Seth Kellogg (1940–2021), is now available for purchase. Birding with Seth Kellogg: A Compendium of His Best Columns was curated by Michele Keane-Moore and edited by John Weeks and Janice Zepko. The book is an expansive and educational journey through the seasons that will delight and inform New England birders.

Beginning in 1999, Seth managed the important task of collecting and submitting Western Massachusetts bird records for inclusion in Bird Observer’s bi-monthly journal. He was a widely known and highly respected leader within the birding community, particularly in his home territory of Western Massachusetts.

When not tallying birding reports, leading hawk watches, contributing to Breeding Bird Surveys, canvassing nesting species for the Massachusetts Bird Atlas, or serving on his local conservation commission, Seth was a Sunday columnist for the Springfield, Massachusetts, newspaper The Republican until April 2018. His series, “Birds of the Air,” inspired birders for 20 years.

“The columns included the smallest details of the living, breathing, feathered world that caught Seth’s eye,” writes Keane-Moore in the book’s preface. “His enthusiasm was infectious, and he had an incredibly generous teaching spirit.”

From a total of 922 articles, Keane-Moore selected 100 in which she believes Seth’s voice is most distinct. She sequenced the articles by month, allowing readers to travel through a year of birding with Seth’s insight as their guide. “Seth was always orienting his reader to the specifics of the time of year through his detailed observations of bird arrivals and departures, territorial songs and breeding displays, the emergence of new fledglings—nothing escaped his notice,” Keane-Moore writes.

“When Seth passed away in 2021, a number of us, to whom Seth had been a birding mentor and a friend, wanted to help preserve his writing as part of his legacy,” Keane-Moore notes. She and editors Weeks and Zepko spent three years on this project and are pleased to offer it to birders everywhere who search Birding with Seth Kellogg on Amazon.com. Proceeds from the sale of this book will support the Allen Bird Club of Springfield, Massachusetts, where Seth Kellogg was an active, longtime leader.

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