Red-winged Blackbirds
My father, Maurice Giltz, was a biology professor at Ohio State University who studied Red-winged blackbirds and their migration patterns. He and another professor, Dr. H. Burtt, banded thousands, really thousands of these birds and found out where they went in the spring and studied their nesting patterns --because they were such a nucience to the corn farmers in Ohio Indiana, Illinois and Pennsylvania and in Canada. I would help out and chase them through the trap to the section where they could reach in and grab one and put on a band and let it go. I also would record some times whether they were male/female adult or young. Thousands would roost in the woods near Ohio State during migration times and it was an amazing site to see.
I am glad my father studied such a common bird-- Not some totally exotic species. Because you see I have always seen them wherever I've lived. Their bright epilets this time of year on the males trying to woo the females always always makes me smile. Their distinctive cries can be heard all over.
O-ka-ree-AH
My Daddy really loved his work with these birds. He made movies, he found a way to keep them from roosting in cities and causing real problems, he made friends with farmers who had tried everything to keep them out of their corn crops, he was a fun man, he was a smart man.
He loved his work with these birds, but even more he loved his family. And how he loved his grandchildren. I always felt a little like Wendy in Peter Pan, you know at the end when Peter comes back and Wendy is all grown up and Peter takes her children on adventures. When our children were little Daddy/Granddaddy would take them off on adventures, Snoopers Hunts, and leave me behind. I didn't resent it---I just felt all grown up. He on the other hand had a lightness in his step like no other time and a child-like delight in the world.
And etched on my heart, and on many hearts, is his smile and is gentle way and his humor, and his sparkle in his eyes, that even time apart from him cannot take away. Thanks Daddy.
He would have been 94 this year. He would have been a cute old guy. How can it be 20 years since we said good-bye?
But don't you hope in your hearts that you'll be remembered with such love? Having touched so many lives of students and family and friends....you'll be remembered... and in the end...and after a few tears...they'll smile.
God Abides
Bobbie McGarey
@2004
I am glad my father studied such a common bird-- Not some totally exotic species. Because you see I have always seen them wherever I've lived. Their bright epilets this time of year on the males trying to woo the females always always makes me smile. Their distinctive cries can be heard all over.
O-ka-ree-AH
My Daddy really loved his work with these birds. He made movies, he found a way to keep them from roosting in cities and causing real problems, he made friends with farmers who had tried everything to keep them out of their corn crops, he was a fun man, he was a smart man.
He loved his work with these birds, but even more he loved his family. And how he loved his grandchildren. I always felt a little like Wendy in Peter Pan, you know at the end when Peter comes back and Wendy is all grown up and Peter takes her children on adventures. When our children were little Daddy/Granddaddy would take them off on adventures, Snoopers Hunts, and leave me behind. I didn't resent it---I just felt all grown up. He on the other hand had a lightness in his step like no other time and a child-like delight in the world.
And etched on my heart, and on many hearts, is his smile and is gentle way and his humor, and his sparkle in his eyes, that even time apart from him cannot take away. Thanks Daddy.
He would have been 94 this year. He would have been a cute old guy. How can it be 20 years since we said good-bye?
But don't you hope in your hearts that you'll be remembered with such love? Having touched so many lives of students and family and friends....you'll be remembered... and in the end...and after a few tears...they'll smile.
God Abides
Bobbie McGarey
@2004
posted by Bobbie Giltz McGarey at
6:33 AM
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