01 *RESCAN December 06,1979 - ROY LATHAM - NaturalistDecember 6. 1979
ROY IA
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it Andfoth, to iitg
ture
Pau Stoutenllnar�il3- �_
Every once in a great while there comes
,)long a person who rises above all others in
his accomplishments and his story must be
told. .011c11 0 man was !toy Latham of
Orient.
I le v as a farmer be bade and a naturalist
111' choice 11 , records. notes and articles
annul the world around hint are known
throllghonl our stale. I.a51 nunrih l{ov
Latham died at the age of 4}l Ills interest
and observations in the 0a011-a1 World were a
way of lilt' for him boot the early days of
• childhood until he (bed.'1'her1. 101)1 no,pol on
either the north or south shore he had not
trod. Hollins Island, Gardiner: Island and
Plum ]stand all came under his scrutiny.
1'110 modern world with ils trinkets awd
gadgets held no magic for him. Nadler.
wh,,l calplured his, interest was Ihc• lute of
nature', unknown. :1, lime went on he
rbllec'Iccl and sent to the slate museum 1111(1
the American 11110111(11 111 N ;)aural 1h,lory
an array of birds,, animals, plants, insects.
shells and such 111111 would literally start a
museum in themselves and lo think most of
Ihis was done alter or 1101nre long days of
work on Ins beloved Iar'11.
lir:lyes . .0(■1111 Pitt' ISird ('0(111
111 Ill,' c;u'I■ aim's he eilhrl' 1y11ked or Inc e
;1 hike or used ;1 lean) nl horses to gel about.
Inc l'i'eu Iiol'( 10 /111.1 ((11(100)0111 ion. 11(0 110
lolls ill one of Ihc• many Holes he typed out on
his old Oliver typewriter. Here he told :Mold
an ra01t bird rnllnl Ihal he and his; brother
Ionic on G(1rdine00 Islanri. Imagine in the
middle 111 the winter rowing five mile :,
;11'01)00 open 11';111'1 only to have ;1 storm
cooly lip ;11111 loll)' (hem lo lake shall 'r
overnight in 11 lishel'm;1n :. s;11ack. When they
awoke 1110 neat morning ;1 great eagle 0111 011
1110 beach 01111111 00/111''S 1111'011 01 1111, 1101.
The 1'(1)11(('• 1'I si'cd, they rowed home, and
1 1 1 1 ) 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 2 1 ) 1 : . casual as it he'd done Ihis;
every day This was in the beginning, of
Chia:docls bird counts and 1 recall my notes
state it was during his 111(15 coon!.
, tits world was ;11:0' Irnm 110101 people',. 11
was the world of nulrsh and Iield, of woods
and swamp, of creel( and bay. 11 was oft Ihc
beaten b'ac'k, 1.vhere few ever ventured and
fewer still In1.1v alloy.
A Firsi I ;ncourter
'1'110 fir ;sl lime I met Hoy Latham was
many. many years ago when I was sloshing
about in the old cranberry bog in Riverhead,
now• a county par k. 1 )11 in the distance there
appeared to lie a man w;n-ing a flag. !laving
- ° 69 with are close to his
creeks and bays, his birds
and !lowers shall surely
miss pima Roy Latham
moats a legend to us alL
'1.
my ) ' 1 1 o i ,hors ) ' , ) I 1 1 1 1 ) ' , 1 011+'1 1.1 11 11 out and
loth ., be , mg, :1 I...ily net
1111'+..
coml. 1 •■
respect
about i1! 11i(ynlg a p
0111y (..' . ne the name
canoe
+svcry
I•• I0nl
001
10
scientific name, its life
weight and length he'd 001 .0'tcd p1•'
and the time of the year that partic.d:1r (1011
migrated to our waters. This .,.pc of
[response was typical of his thoroughness.
After all, he said, "I had fish traps for years
out in the Sound and bay and kept accurate
records on all species caught... -- What a
man!
rte,
HERE'S A WAY
TO STRETCH YOUR
HOLIDAY SHOPPING
DOLLAR.
ALL OUTERWEAR IS
ON SALE AT
EDWARD ARCHER
F OW THROUGH
DECEMBER 12.
OPEN LATE THROUGH
CHRISTMAS GN
MAIN STREET IN BOTH
RIVERHEAD AND
SOUTHAMPTON.
Even in his later years when his eyes were
failing he was still involved and never gave
up. Once when Barbara and I visited. him
and his wife in their back garden he looked
for a particular plant amongst the greenery.
This garden was something special, for it
had plants. trees and bushes from allover
the island that 110 had collected. As he
walked 'through, fondly touching each plant.
he became distressed because he could not
locate the particular one he was looking tor.
Not giving up, he went down on his hands
and knees. groping about and soon came up
with the specimen in his hand.
This will be the first year our Orient
Christmas Count will not have Hoy Latham
listed amongst its observers. 1{o■ 1,, as the
originator of Ihis count in he early 19U0's. In
his later years when Hoy was too old to
participate actively in our general count, he
still sent in his observations from around the
farm. Often he would tell me he didn't see
the bird, but heard it calling from above as it
flew overhead. Either v. :,y his trained eyes
and ears never missed a thing 110(1 mane's
the time his list added to ours one or two
species that we, with a party of 411 of more,
had nri5seri. 11'0 who are close Io his creeks
and bays. his hirrl.s and flowers shall surely
rots, him. limy Latham was 11 legend to us
Page 19'
BLUEBIRD -- Seldom seen on Long Island, this beautiful bird was once-
common, as quoted from Roy Latham's records, "Always common ail
the spring, April 4, 1909 - 60. Flocks of over 200 bluebirds not rare in
spring and fall migrations." Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
Two Great N '
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