By Rick LaRose, Board Director; Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Co-chair; Beginner Birder Program Manager 

I recently had a lovely visit with long-time Wake Audubon member Judy Smith. Judy had read about our inclusive and welcoming bird outings in a Wake Audubon newsletter, and thought the nature of these outings befitted the next use of her late husband Norm’s spotting scope.

Always inviting others to share in the sightings that he adeptly spotted, Judy envisioned Norm’s scope as an instrument with which new birders could stoke their interest and excitement in birding, as had been the case for Norm some many years ago. 

Thank you to Judy for her thoughtful donation to Wake Audubon in memory of her loving husband Norm. In accepting her gift, I invited Judy to reflect on Norm, their meeting and life together, the spark for Norm’s interest in birds, their worldly birding adventures, and the history of the scope that now keeps on giving. Following, Wake Audubon board director John Gerwin shares memories of Norm too. 

Norm Smith: Birding and a Leica Spotting Scope, by Judy Smith

Norm and I met playing duplicate bridge with a group Called Formerly Married. The game was held in my community’s party room. He asked me out for a drink after the game. Twelve years later we got married! For some of those years he was raising his son and daughter.

Norm was raised on a small farm in rural Mississippi. He knew that he didn’t want to be a farmer, so he went to junior college, then into the Army for 2 years (he was glad to be stationed in Germany rather than in Korea) and finished up his degree at University of Southern Mississippi. He worked for the US Army as a civilian for 30 years, retiring at age 55. He started working with computers when punched cards were used and ended his career in software maintenance for a large communication system. He worked in private industry after he retired for 3 years.

I was raised in suburban area in Connecticut. I graduated from Elmira College where I was able to spend my junior year at Leicester University in England. When we met, I was working in the accounting department of engineering, architecture and surveying firm.

While both of us were working, we took vacations both in the states and internationally. Twice we joined Norm’s niece and husband staying with them in their RV and enjoyed it. When Norm finally retired, he volunteered at a golf course, so he could play for free! After a year of this, he was ready for a change. We were living in my condo and there wasn’t any maintenance or outside things for him to do. This is when he decided we should by a RV. I was ready to quit work, as I was way too young to retire!

In the fall of 1989, we bought a 26’ RV which we towed with a suburban. The following January I quit my job (10-year age difference) for our first trip. We left from Fairfax, VA to explore both coasts of Florida and then visit family in LA and MS. He did all the driving when we were towing.

January of 1992 saw us heading to Texas. We were lucky to be able to camp for 3 weeks at the end of South Padre Island without a previous reservation – a rarity. While there, we saw our first Roseate Spoonbill. From there we traveled along the Rio Grande River to McAllen, where we spent a week before heading to San Antonio and Austin. McAllen is where he discovered his passion for birdwatching. The birds were so colorful and different from those in VA.

When we returned home, we joined the local Audubon club; went on a Christmas bird count; and joined local walks. We decided to go on a weekend trip with the Audubon club to Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge in Delaware. This is where Norm met his travel birding friend, Porter. They took several trips together. When Porter was going to sell his spotting scope, Norm’s children and I bought it for Norm. Later, right before Porter died, he told Norm he had left his Swarovski binoculars to him. Norm used them up until his passing.

We spent several winters camping in Bradenton, FL or in Texas along the Rio Grande River. We often went on bird walks on our own or with groups. Norm took several bird watching trips with Field Guides to Alaska and Arizona. In 2002 I went with him – and the scope – on a Field Guides trip to Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Eventually his North America life list totaled 700.

On several of our international non-birding trips, Norm became interested in the birds. In Australia, he bought a local bird guide. Others on the tour were aware of his interest and would ask him about what he was seeing with his binoculars. About 3 months before we went to Tanzania, he bought a bird guide and spent a lot of time studying it. I wondered why, but when he sat up front with the guide and discussed what he was seeing, I understood why. 

Our trip to Costa Rica and through the Panama Canal was a surprise for me. I had wanted to go through the canal, but Norm wasn’t as interested. He ended up enjoying it, especially seeing a Toucan posing for us while we were in one of the locks. We spent a week in Belize with a private guide. Norm saw several of his target birds. When we moved to Cary in 2010, one of the first NC birding trips we took was with John Gerwin, leading a group from Wake Audubon. It was a weekend trip to Lake Mattamuskeet to see the snow geese. We all nearly froze on the trip, but it was a start of birding in NC. Norm also really enjoyed going to Pea Island.

He learned to take pictures through the scope. I have a separate album of some of these pictures.

Whenever I went birding with Norm, he would always share the scope with others. In his will, he left the scope to be donated so others could see, learn, and enjoy watching birds. It was just recently that I saw Rick’s post of a walk for the LBGQ community and allies. I thought this is a perfect place to donate the scope. An extra scope on local bird walks is definitely a plus.

Memories of Norm Smith, by John Gerwin

It doesn’t seem that long ago – but my mind has a way of making things seemingly ‘not that long ago’. Yet a recent donation to Wake Audubon caused me to stop and think a little more deeply and with this I realized it has been, in fact, quite a few years now since I first met Norm and Judy Smith, when they came on one of my Wake Audubon outdoor nature hikes. 

Norm recently passed away and his wife Judy has generously donated his spotting scope to our organization. This is a most fitting gesture as Norm was such an avid birdwatcher; and he also very much enjoyed sharing this activity and his knowledge of birds with anyone nearby.

Norm had what I would call a “sly sense of humor”. So as you were peering through his scope, or listening to him passing along some bird natural history tidbit, you might also catch a bit of that humor.

Norm and Judy participated in many of my field trips over the years, and I was always left with such good feelings after spending time with them.

At one point, Norm could no longer go on long hikes. Judy contacted me, to ask if I might like to have this pair of “overshoes” that he used to wear. They were called NEOS – and I knew this brand of footwear quite well. It is footwear that one places over say, your normal walking shoes. As an overshoe, NEOS are very lightweight, waterproof and strong. A pair of these can make for a nice comfortable and dry outing. I knew this because I had purchased a dozen or so pairs for previous students and field technicians, when we were working in bottomland hardwood forests in the coastal plain many years ago. We wore out a few pairs because we wore them so often. So, I happily accepted the pair that Judy offered and I wore them so much in my work in the Uwharries that I eventually wore them out as well. A good “shoe” is a thing of wonder.

A few years back, another friend of mine, also a Wake Audubon member, passed away. My wife and I went to help his widow, to help deal with the library’s worth of books he had accumulated. She wanted to share these books with whomever might want them, including me. As we were packing boxes one evening she said, “And by the way, he had just purchased this nice pair of field pants, and I think they would fit you.” Well, they did.

Each time I wore Norm’s overshoes, or those field pants, or read one of the books I’d kept, it brought me warm and fuzzy, and somewhat bittersweet, memories of my good friends. I know it will be like this when I next look through Norm’s spotting scope.