Burroughs and Birds
Slabsides Day Open House May 20, 2023
11:00 am – 4:00 pm, Noon program
At John Burroughs’ Slabsides, West Park, NY
Susan Fox Rogers
“Burroughs and Birds”
Join author and avid outdoorswoman Susan Fox Rogers as she talks about her journey to becoming a birder—with the writings of John Burroughs at her side. Rogers will share her adventures searching for birds, following in Burroughs’ footsteps as she hikes up Slide Mountain in search of the Bicknell’s Thrush. Burroughs’ melodious descriptions of bird song added a spark to Rogers’ love of birds and deepened her appreciation for the writings of America’s great nature writer.
Susan Fox Rogers is the author of Learning the Birds: A Mid-Life Adventure, and My Reach: A Hudson River Memoir, which explores the Hudson River from the perspective of her kayak. She is the editor of eleven anthologies, including Solo: On Her Own Adventure, and Antarctica: Life on the Ice. Her most recent collection, When Birds Are Near: Dispatches from Contemporary Writers, celebrates the birding life.
Rogers is Writer in Residence at Bard College, where he has taught the creative essay, nature writing and bird-related classes since 2001.
Don’t miss this very special talk. Rogers will be available to sign your copy of her books.
Slabsides will be open for tours from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm, noon program.
Refreshments from Jessica Winchell and Metal House Cider.
Open to all with no registration.
The moment I heard it I said, “There is a new bird, a new thrush,” for the quality of all thrush songs is the same. A moment more, I knew it was Bicknell’s Thrush. The song is in a minor key, finer, more attenuated, and more under the breath than that of any other thrush. It seemed as if the bird was blowing in a delicate, slender, golden tube, so fine and yet so flute-like resonant the song appeared. At times it was like a musical whisper of great sweetness and power. The birds were numerous about the summit, but we saw them nowhere else. No other thrush was seen…”
“The Heart of the Southern Catskills,” Century, August 1888; Riverby,1894
