Sad News About Our Friend Hugh.

Hi folks,  It's with a very heavy heart that I must tell you that our great friend Hugh Reid has passed away.  Hugh died peacefully yesterday morning (April 4, 2020) after a short battle with cancer.

Hugh was always at Rosetta McClain Gardens early in the morning watching for the spring and fall migrants.  He also became a huge help to me during our fall hawk watches, always spotting birds up in the sky over the east end of the park and heading our way, he was always one of the first hawk watchers of the day and one of the last ones to leave, always offering me a ride home after I'd been standing all day.  Hugh also became quite involved with Terry and Betty's Monarch butterfly tagging program, catching butterflies, taking down and entering data in to the system on the go, sometimes it would become quite comical in the process.  We had many a good trip along the highways of Southern Ontario in search of reported 'Lifer' birds.  On the night of June 30th, 2017 at 10:30pm I received a messege from Hugh asking me about a Magnificent Frigatebird.  I had no clue what he was on about.  He told me that there was a Magnificent Frigatebird near Point Pelee National Park and asked me if I was interested in seeing it the next day.  Of course, I said 'yes' without any hesitation.  I went to bed shortly thereafter knowing that it was going to be a long day but not totally grasping what just happened.  We (including Betty) left very early the next morning on our mission, Operation Frigatebird.  I'll always remember as we were approaching the London area and I was finally waking up from my daze thinking to myself, holy sh*t we're definitely on a mission this time!  What a great day and an amazing bird for Canada Day!  That was one bird that I'd never really even considered seeing in Ontario.  Hugh also organized our spring trips to Bill Gilmour's house (in Presqu'ile) each May.  Those trips have always been second to none, usually producing 100 bird species on average!  Hugh and Bill were the best of friends for 40 years!  Above all, Hugh was a very kind and caring person, always sharing a funny story or what he knew about nature with others.

The friends of Rosetta have all gained much from Hugh, he will be sadly missed.  A planned get-together at Rosetta in celebration of our friend will take place likely in the fall and after we get through our current situation with the Covid-19 virus.  RIP Hugh.

Walter