Dr. Howard L. Cogswell
Dr. Howard L. Cogswell leading a field trip at Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge,
Fremont, California, June 2002.
Memories of a Friend
Dr. Howard L. Cogswell, one of the founders of the Ohlone Audubon Society, colleague, mentor and friend to many, passed away on June 8, 2006, at the age of 91.
In March of 1966, Dr. Cogswell met in the Hayward area with a few local bird enthusiasts to begin formation of a local branch of the National Audubon Society. On March 19, 1966, he led the first field trip for Ohlone Audubon Society (OAS) at the Hayward shoreline near the San Mateo Bridge. With his help, the founding date of the OAS was established as April 5, 1966. Throughout the years Dr. Cogswell continued to lead OAS field trips, serve on the Board of Directors and work on conservation issues. He was co-coordinator of the field observation section of the Kite Call and was the official "encyclopedia of knowledge" for many Ohlone Audubon members.
Howard discovered his passion for birds early in life as a young farm boy. During the Depression, as a very young man, he hitchhiked from his home in Pennsylvania to California. There, he met and married Bessie Wilby, who remained his wife and unwavering support system for 67 years.
An interesting narrative of Howard's early life with birds appears in The Bird Watchers America, by Olin Seward Pettingill (1965). It reads as follows:
"Howard Lyman Cogswell, born in 1915 on a farm in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, met his first birds in Thornton W. Burgess's books for children provided by a traveling library that stopped at a one-room rural school. When he was about ten he discovered birds as a hobby in the Handbook of Birds by Frank M. Chapman and The Book of Bird Life by Arthur A. Allen. At the age when boys like to travel and explore 'wild country,' he was living in Pasadena, California, and the nearest wild country within range of his bicycle was on the chaparral-covered slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains above the city. This was the beginning of his interest in the chaparral and its birds. While a student at Whittier College and part-time warden at the Audubon Center in El Monte, he continued to watch birds in the chaparral. As a graduate student at the University of California in Berkeley, he returned to the chaparral for a more detailed and systematic study that led eventually to his thesis for a Ph.D. degree. Now, on the faculty of California State College at Hayward, he says that he has deserted the chaparral for a study of why certain bird species choose the particular habitats they do. While he probably means what he says, I nevertheless hope that he will return now and then to the chaparral and its birds, as he has here, for there is nobody else who can discourse on the subject with his enthusiasm and authority. In a sense this article challenges any bird watcher worth his salt to tackle the chaparral, seek its drab-colored, timid birds, and find it fun."
Those of us who knew Dr. Cogswell can picture him peddling his bicycle on those steep chaparral-covered slopes without being daunted by the difficulties of the strenuous venture. He possessed a different gear than most of us. Perhaps his pure love of the natural world pushed him through the physical barriers that might prevent a full appreciation of that moment in the field. Field trips and classes led by Howard were always a great adventure.
The contributions of Dr. Cogswell to the scientific and birding communities were extensive. He taught at Mills College before his tenure at CSUH. As a professor in the Biology Department, his teaching style promoted precise scientific method and thorough study of the subject at hand. He prepared his students to encounter the natural world, to immerse themselves in it, and to thoroughly absorb all there was to know about it.
He authored Water Birds of California, (U.C. Press, 1977), an excellent resource book on California water birds and the best book to reference for finding where and when the water birds of California will occur at any given time of the year. He was an expert in aerial photography and bird banding, worked with the Point Reyes and San Francisco Bird Observatories, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area Advisory Commission and helped develop the regional goals for the San Francisco Bay system. He served on the Board of Directors of the East Bay Regional Park District for 12 years and was the moving force behind creating a Master Plan for the District to improve preservation and stewardship of valuable habitat in the San Francisco Bay Area. He served on the Hayward Area Shoreline Planning Agency as a representative for EBRPD and continued to serve on the Citizen Advisory Committee upon his retirement from the District Board of Directors. He continued to participate on the committee through his final year of life.
For many years Dr. Cogswell dedicated his time to analysis of the Geographic Phenology of California Birds. Though not yet completed, this project will be continued by Terry Preston, an arrangement made with Howard in the last year of his life.
One of his great achievements was the return of 200 acres of former salt-evaporation ponds into productive tidal marshland. A long-time student of the Bay and its natural functions, Dr. Cogswell believed that if given a hand, the natural systems could regenerate and provide the essential functions for which they were intended. He served as a catalyst and planner for returning this land both to the San Francisco Bay and all that depend upon its habitat. Located on the Hayward shoreline just north of the San Mateo Bridge, this magnificent marshland was named "Cogswell Marsh" after the man who helped make it all possible.
As a student and friend of Howard for many years, I learned first hand that his passion to know everything about the natural world, especially birds, was not only inspiring but quite contagious. In my first university class with Howard, at the very moment he sang out his imitation of the olive-sided flycatcher, I was thoroughly and forever hooked. I took many classes with Howard and will always remember trudging breathlessly behind him, up the steep slopes of many hills and mountains throughout California. Although he was in his 60's at the time, he was always well ahead of class. He put his students to shame as he led us to areas where we could see the greatest possible number of species of birds and mammals and all the biotic districts throughout the state. Throughout my friendship with Howard, if I ever had a question, he would never leave it unanswered. If he didn't have an immediate answer, I could count on him to call me back after he had researched all the appropriate resources. This is the man many of us knew.
I consider my decision to embark on classes with him a tremendous blessing, for had it not been for Howard, I would never have developed the passion for science and nature that I have today. I am sure that many of us feel that our experiences and relationships with Howard were both a privilege and a gift.
He was dedicated to learning and sharing his knowledge with all others who were willing to open their lives to the wonders of nature. Howard had the integrity, honesty and sense of deep responsibility that we all long to find in our fellow humans.
Yet for all that Howard was and for all that he accomplished he retained a sense of humility that was endearing. He was by far a greater man than most people ever realized. His accomplishments and contributions cannot possibly be summarized in one issue of the Kite Call.
We should all take time to honor not only Howard but also Bessie, his lovely wife of 67 years. Whatever time he gave to his colleagues, students and friends was also a gift from his family. Time taken to contribute to the acquisition and dissemination of the critical knowledge that is required to keep the planet in balance, can be time taken away from family. Bessie and Denis, his son, also trudged behind Howard as he climbed those steep San Gabriel Mountains studying the birds of the chaparral community out of love for this man in their lives. Bessie and Denis followed Howard from their home in southern California to the San Francisco Bay Area. Bessie was Howard's companion on all of his trips to gather records or information about birds.
It is not surprising that Dr. Cogswell took his last field trip to the very location where his Ohlone Audubon legacy began. In February of this year, with a body frail and tired from 91 years of life, Howard and Bessie took their final field trip together to Cogswell Marsh. Although wheelchair bound and in great pain, he positioned himself near the plaque that commemorates the marsh dedication. He lifted his binoculars and looked out over the marsh. Though he spoke little, he soaked in the sun, the breeze and the sounds and smells of the marsh. He lifted his binoculars to the sky one more time and watched intently as a Peregrine falcon flew overhead, while the shorebirds and ducks vocalized softly in the background. The passionate spirit of Dr. Howard Lyman Cogswell was still there.
Each time I see a golden eagle or a sparrow, or smell the musky scent of the oak woodlands, or walk through the forests and the chaparral covered slopes of California, or the down the path through Cogswell marsh, I will see and think of Howard and thank him for the enormous gift he has given me. I believe I will not be the only one. --Terry Preston
To send a note to Bessie Cogswell and family, the address is:
Bessie Cogswell
1200 Russell Way,
Apt 317 Hayward,
CA 94541
Memorial Celebration
Cogswell Memorial
On Saturday, October 14, More than 40 friends with binoculars
and scopes – birders—came together to celebrate the life of
Dr. Howard Cogswell, a renowned ornithologist, conservationist,
university educator, author, and founder of the Ohlone Audubon .
Howard passed on this spring at the age of 91. The ceremony was
held at the Hayward Shoreline at the site of Cogswell Marsh.
Howard’s wife and son were present. Attendees were invited to
share their memories of time spent with Howard. Family members,
former students, and members of the birding community
spoke. In a fitting moment, as Debbie Viess was speaking, Bob
Richmond spotted a Peregrine Falcon flying over. Two Longbilled
Curlews were feeding in Cogswell Marsh behind the
speaker’s podium. It was a peaceful, calm, morning. —RC
Dr. Howard Cogswell Memorial Fund
The family of Dr. Howard Cogswell generously suggested that
instead of flowers or other gifts, those who wished could send
memorials to Ohlone Audubon Society. The Board of Directors
has established the Dr. Howard Cogswell Memorial Fund to
receive those gifts. The fund will be applied to an appropriate
commemoration of his life and work.
The following have already made contributions to the fund.
Ron Barklow and Viola Saima-Barklow, Bruce A. Brown, Gail
Delalla, Frank and Janice Delfino, J. William Gotcher, Ph.D.,
Alice Hoch, Jim Jewell, Robin Leong, Peggy Olofson, Jackie
Rego, Rev. David and Arete Taylor, William G. Vandenburgh,
Anna “Willie” Wilcox.
Please send contributions to the Ohlone Audubon Society,
Helen Sowers, 18492 Capricorn Ct., Castro Valley, CA 94546