Dear birders,
Thursday morning, while hiking up the Third Flatiron to observe Peregrine Falcons as a volunteer for the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks department, Jeff Parks collapsed. A hiker on the Tomato Rock social trail found him unresponsive and called 911. OSMP ranger staff, Rocky Mountain Rescue, and AMR medical service attempted to revive Jeff using an AED and by performing CPR. Unfortunately, these attempts were unsuccessful.
Jeff was a fixture around the local Boulder birding area, contributing informative posts to CObirds and entering hundreds of eBird checklists. Just a few days ago he sent out an email to CObirds reporting the new spring arrivals at Walden & Sawhill Ponds, describing the first Tree Swallows of the season hawking for insects and noting a Greater Yellowlegs wading through the shallows with Killdeer. Jeff started as an OSMP volunteer this year, and he showed a passion not only for observing and recording data on nesting raptors, but in being an advocate for their protection. He always put the birds and other wildlife first, often being delicate about revealing locations of sensitive wildlife species to the public.
We should all be as fortunate to leave this Earth from such an exalted place, with the Flatirons soaring overhead and the songs of the spring chorus in our ears!
Best,
Christian Nunes
Lyons, CO
No comments:
Post a Comment