Jim Schlesinger's passing revives memories for me as well as other birders.
I crossed paths with him in years past along the Potomac on New Year's Days
when we were each out early to pick up easy birds for our new year lists.
Carl Weber and I were once walking the nature drive in Assateague when Jim
stopped in a Park Service station wagon and took us beyond the locked gate
to the wash flats. One Spring morning I happened to see him and mentioned
that we had Pine siskins at our feeder. When I got home, my wife Anna told
me she had found him in our backyard adding Pine siskin to his Virginia life
list. Whatever his professional reputation, he was always warm and
approachable in the field.
Don Peterson
Mount Vernon District
