[TN-Bird] A great birder: Howard P. Langridge.
- From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "TN-birds" <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 15 Nov 2004 19:56:52 -0500
Howard P. Langridge, who began birding at Elizabethton 50 years ago, passed
away Sunday, November 14, following a brief illness and hospitalization from a
stroke. He was in his early 80s.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Mable Sharp Langridge, who passed away at
age 77, Oct. 15, 1999.
Funeral arrangements are not available at this hour but a family member has
said a simple service is expected to be conducted Saturday. He is survived by
three daughters and a son. He lived in a simple cabin home he built near the
Elizabethton airport and owned most of his life. A daughter and son-in-law,
Jane and Jim Farmer, live nextdoor.
His contributions to birding in the region and to birding in Florida, were
major. He lived at Elizabethton in recent years. He was a member of the Lee and
Lois Herndon Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society.
He will long be remembered for having been one of the foremost birders in
Florida. He organized many Christmas counts in that state. For ten years he
wrote a birding reports on Florida birds for "American Birds." For 8 years he
was associate editor for the "Florida Field Naturalist."
He was famous for leading birding tours to the Dry Tortugas off the Florida
coast and for Wings, the world famous birding tours.
He frequently birded the Rio Grande area of southern Texas and the Alaskan
island of Attu.
He is remembered for having found the second U.S. sighting of a Brown-headed
Martin.
In 1990 Howard and Brian Cross, and others discovered several rare birds blown
into Watauga Lake in Northeast Tennessee by Hurricane Hugo. The Royal Tern and
Lesser Black-backed Gull were first Tennessee records.
At South Holston Lake, October 15-19, 1990, he was the first to "pick up" that
a white heron seen by himself, Rick Knight and Brian Cross was a Great White
Heron (white morph of the Great Blue Heron mainly known from Florida at that
time). It was the first occurrence of this morph in Tennessee and second in
Virginia. The Great White Heron had, at that time, started showing up in more
northern areas and inland along the Atlantic coast.
One Langridge's most recent accomplishments was when he wrote birding history
in the five-county Northeast Tennessee area with the tally of 237 species in
the year 2000. It broke a 12-year-record of 231 species found by Brian Cross in
1989. Several attempts to break the old record had come up short.
"He's probably the only birder I know that would have driven over the mountain
to Shady Valley near midnight in a major snowstorm to try for a Long-eared Owl
found at John Shumate's home. But, he got that owl, and I didn't," said Bryan
Stevens, former president of the Herndon Chapter, editor of the chapter
newsletter and close birding companion of Lanagridge.
"I never really got anything like a favorite bird or a favorite birding
location out of him, but he liked the Dry Tortugas, Alaska, Texas and Florida.
Closer to his home in Tennessee, I know he liked to head to Musick's
Campground, Wilbur Lake and Shady Valley.
"Howard tended to sweep people up into challenges. When Howard broke the record
in 2000 with 237 birds seen in Carter, Johnson, Sullivan, Unicoi and
Washington, I came in second with 220 birds. I like to tell people that I got
pulled along in his wake. If not for that surge of momentum that he generated,
I would never have accomplished my own feat. It was a fun year, and one that I
doubt I will ever come close to matching."
"He will be very much missed. My own feeling of personal loss is just almost
too much for me to contemplate right now," Stevens said just hours after having
learned of Langridge's death.
Langridge left his native Iowa at the age of 18 and worked with the U.S. Postal
Service in Washington D.C. He spent three years in the U.S. Navy during World
War II and then came to Northeast Tennessee to attend East Tennessee State
University. He earned a B.S. and M.A. degree in English. He taught school in
Carter County, TN and then most of his career at Lantania, FL where he retired
in 1981.
In February 1995 we learned that the Langridges had decided to discontinue
spending summers at his cabin home near Elizabethton. He had been spending
summers there for more than 20 years. He stayed in Florida for a few years
before moving back permanently to his cabin in Elizabethton.
He lived alone for several years and was always in good health, playing tennis
two or three times a week and chopping his own firewood right up to the time of
his death.
On a personal note, I remember spending time with him birding in Florida in
1967 and his finding me many wonderful life birds. John Shumate and I birded
with him at Musick's Campground and saw the Sooty Tern on a beautiful, sunny,
day September 9, 2004. At that time three of us talked about old times. I asked
Howard then if he would be willing to sit down and let me tape record a few
hours of his memories and the great history and friendship we have shared. He
agreed and said he would be more than happy to do that.
Howard walked to his car and left. I never saw him again and will always mourn
his loss and our loss. And I will never forgive myself for not going quickly to
get the recording made.
Stevens believes Langridge's last birding activity with the Herndon TOS Chapter
was October 30 when they held the last of the chapter's October Saturday bird
walks at Sycamore Shoals State Park, Elizabethton. With him were birding
friends
Dianne Draper, Howard Langridge, Reece Jamerson, David Thometz
and Stevens.
A legend has passed and some of history passed with him.
Let's go birding while we can....
Wallace Coffey
Bristol, TN
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