Babe Ruth #00: Origins

For those of you who have stumbled across this blog in your travels around the internet, this blog, like many, has a singular focus. What makes this blog different is that it focuses on an unusual idea. My other blog, Nature Note: The Adventures of a Northeastern Naturalist, is devoted largely to my birding adventures, as well as some side adventures into wildlife photography, wild edibles, fishing, tracking, and more.

However, the purpose of this blog is more multifaceted. I want to reintroduce people to ornithologists, to naturalists, to people who made bird science what it is today and what is has yet to become. They include famous examples such as John James Audubon and Sir Peter Scott, and to lesser known, but equally well deserving individuals such as Alexander Wilson and Margaret Morse Nice. I'll also be introducing you to people you've probably never even heard of. With those introductions and reintroductions, I want to show you, the reader, what they became known for, what they wanted to achieve, who they were, and where they came from. I want to show you what they brought to this interesting and complicated field and how they continue to shape our world even today.

The name "Babe Ruth of Ornithology" was originally conceived in 2010 when my friend and fellow dishwasher Ed Mortimer, asked me during a lull in dish washing activity who would be considered to be "the Babe Ruth of Ornithology". I paused and said,

"Um. I don't know. Maybe Audubon?"

I hemmed and hawed for a bit longer, but couldn't really think of anyone else. After that initial poke, I put the idea on the back burner for a bit. It was only later on in the summer, that I picked up the idea again and made myself a bracket based on what ornithologists I could find on Wikipedia. From there, I tried to figure which ones had bigger and better accomplishments and from there, the basic idea was born.

Effectively what I had come up with was like March Madness with ornithologists. This brings us all the way back to 2012 when I started posting about the original 16 contenders in the B.R.O. and continued until I eventually got fed up with it. I felt like it took up too much time and effort and didn't want to bother with it anymore.

I angrily proclaimed in On the Wing #48, that I was bored of the project and declared Alexander Wilson the winner. Now nearly three years later, I've decided to give it another go. This time I will make a better effort to represent the best work of each candidate and pit them against a contender that represents an important shared aspect of ornithology. By comparing and contrasting, I hope to determine who best represents each category and who, ultimately, will triumph as the "Babe Ruth of Ornithology".

In my next posting, I'll be describing how the matches will be set up, the contenders and why they are participating, and who will be in the first match up. I'm really excited to share the match ups and participants with you all soon!

Until then, happy birding.