Two Great Ornithological Guys Gone in the Same Month

Two Great Ornithological ““Guys” Gone in the Same Month

Illustrations from The Birds of California by Guy Tudor. University of Texas Press/1989..

Guy Tudor

Guy Tudor, widely recognized as one of the preeminent self-trained bird artists, field ornithologists, and conservationists of our time, died on July 14, 2026 in Greenport, N.Y. He was 91. He was celebrated for his work documenting Neotropical avifauna across South and Central America. When I was a beginning birder, I met Guy several times at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, he was always pleasant and helpful.

Guy Tudor in his home studio.

Guy Tudor/Gemini AI

Master of Neotropical Illustration: He brought thousands of elusive, complex bird species to vivid life in classic field guides, including A Guide to the Birds of Venezuela (1978), A Guide to the Birds of Colombia (1986), and the multi-volume The Birds of South America / Field Guide to the Songbirds of South America (co-authored with Robert S. Ridgely).

NY Birding Pillar: Based out of New York (and for many years running an informal hub for ornithologists from his Queens home), he was a cornerstone of the regional birding community alongside peers like Paul Lehman, the late Tom Davis, and Bob Paxton.

There is a fabulous New York Times obituary celebrating Guy’s life here. You may or may not be able to open the link without a NY Times subscription. If you shoot me an e-mail and I will send you a gift link that may or may not get you in.

Guy McCaskie

Guy McCaskie passed away on July 22, 2026 at his home in Imperial Beach, CA, just 11 days shy of his 90th birthday. Guy had a reputation of being all-around gruff and a demanding mentor. In the mid-1980s, I met Guy in San Diego at a Western Field Ornitholgists meeting. He invited me to go birding with him, Richard E. Webster, and several other world class birders that coming weekend. We met at a Denny’s for breakfast and drove to the Salton Sea in Guy’s Pinto. Guy kindly and patiently answered a zillion of my questions. I am guessing that it is the birding equivalent of being invited to pray with the pope.

The weekend before, Guy had spotted and identified a mega-rarity, then identified as a Cook’s Petrel, a Procellariiform seabird endemic to New Zealand! After several hours of searching in 100+° heat, we decided to give up. I was standing next to Guy as he put his scope in the back of the Pinto. As he was shutting the hatchback, he called out, There it is, and pointed behind us. He had seen and id-ed the reflection of the bird in the vehicle’s rear window! So much for McCaskie’s luck.

The last thing I remember was Richard E. Webster running off into the polluted muddy waters of the Salton Sea with his lens in hand.

Guy McCaskie Honored b the CRBC.

Honorary Presentation

At the 2015 Election, past and current California Bird Records Committee (CBRC) members presented a special award to Guy McCaskie who retired as Secretary after serving the committee as a member and as secretary since the committee’s founding in 1970. Guy was honored with original artwork by Keith Hansen illustrating a bird’s-eye view of Red Hill Marina at the Salton Sea from the point of view of a flock of Magnificent Frigatebirds flying up from the Sea of Cortez into California. Both the birds and the location had special meaning to Guy. Although he retired as Secretary, he continued as a valued advisor to the CBRC.

Guy McCaskie/Gemini AI

It’s almost impossible to overstate what Guy McCaskie meant to field ornithology. He was essentially the godfather of modern Western birding. When he moved from Scotland to California in the 1960s, he single-handedly transformed how people approached field identification, vagrancy patterns, and rigorous documentation on the West Coast.

He pioneered the whole concept of working migrant traps, revolutionized California birding, helped found Western Field Ornithologists and the California Bird Records Committee, and set the gold standard for field notes that elevated amateur birding into respected science. His plan, per his wishes, is to have his ashes scattered at the Salton Sea later this fall—the most fitting final resting spot imaginable for Guy.

Learn more about Guy and his many accomplishments here in the wonderful 1992 American Birds article by Susan Roney Drennan: “McCaskie as Mentor.”

What’s Up?

Pat Fishburne was very happy that she made a very nice image (below) of a Black-bellied Whistling Duck during her last ILE BAA Friends Instructional Session on Sunday morning. I am just about finished working on a new YouTube Video. Backstories & More on the Sony α UNIVERSE Flight Article Images will be featured in the next blog post. I learned today that my AUTO Train trip is this coming Saturday not next Monday. Yikes! I had best get packing. I will be spending most of the month of August at Nickerson Beach. Please get in touch via e-mail to learn about joining me for some inexpensive In-the-Field instruction.

Today is Tuesday 28 July 2026. Don’t be shocked: I will be heading down to the lake early to see what I can find to photograph. Whatever you opt to do, we hope that you too choose to have fun and enjoy life. Please remember that happiness is a choice Byron Katie – The Work.Com

If an item — a Delkin flash card or reader, a Levered-clamp FlexShooter Pro, or a Wimberley lens plate or low foot — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match or beat any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedford by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of photographers whom I see in the field and on BirdPhotographer’s.Net, are — out of ignorance — using the wrong gear, especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads. And the same is true in spades when ordering new camera bodies or lenses. My advice will often save you some serious money and may help you avoid making a seriously bad choice. Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. If you are desperate, you can try me on my cell at 863-221-2372. Please leave a message and shoot me a text if I do not pick up.

This image was created on 26 July 2026 by Pat Fishburne down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Standing on the beach at South-of-the-Pier Bay, she used the handheld Sony FE 100-400mm f/4.5 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at effective 792mm) and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a-1 II Mirrorless Camera (in APS-C crop mode). The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel. ISO 1600: 1/3200 second at f/6.3 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 7:57:23am on a sunny morning. Wide/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the larger high-res version. Image #1: Great Egret preening underwing on Bob’s Eastman’s V-Perch. Image courtesy of and copyright 2026: Pat Fishburne

A Match Made in Heaven: APS-C Crop Mode and Topaz Gigapixel

Not only was the raw file for this image created in APS-C crop mode, but Image #1 above is a vertical crop from the horizontal original. Running the .TIF file through Topaz Gigapixel yielded a 4576 X 6866 pixel, 31.4 megapixel TIF file that is rich in detail and vibrant color. If you are considering purchasing a Topaz produce, please wait a week until I publish my affiliate link. I am working on figuring out how best to utilize the new Topaz Photo. The plan is that folks who use my link to purchase one or both of those will receive a short, free how-to tutorial.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).