I haven’t seen it noted here, so I thought I’d mention the recent passing
of Jeff Swinebroad, natural history teacher extraordinaire.  I took
his "Bird Life" class and one or two others back in the ‘70s, and I owe him
a debt of gratitude for encouraging and strengthening my nascent interest
in birding.  Both in the classroom and on field trips, he had a remarkable
talent for communicating his love and enthusiasm for birds.  I still
remember many of what he called his “oh my stories”—amazing avian feats
such as the migration route of the Arctic Tern.  Although I lost touch with
him in later years, I’m saddened to think he’s no longer a member of our
local birding community.

Here is the text of the obituary that appeared in the Washington Post:

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Jeff Swinebroad Ecologist

Jeff Swinebroad, 77, a retired ecologist with the Energy Department who
also taught courses and led tours on bird watching, died Dec. 21 of
coronary artery disease at his home in Montgomery Village.

From 1968 to his retirement in 1996, he was an ecologist for the Atomic
Energy Commission and the agency that succeeded it, the Department of
Energy.

Mr. Swinebroad taught ornithology and led tours for the Smithsonian
Institution's resident associate program and the Audubon Naturalist Society
from 1974 until last year.

With his Smithsonian groups, he observed the fall migration of raptors at
Chincoteague Island and Cape Charles at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. He
also sought out herons, geese and swans along the Susquehanna River and the
Upper Chesapeake in the winter. Birding tours took him through Maryland's
Eastern Shore.

Mr. Swinebroad took groups on 10-day trips to Maine to see puffins and
razorbacks [sic] and to Vermont for the Audubon Naturalist Society.

Mr. Swinebroad was born in Memphis and lived in several places across the
country before settling in Maryland in 1968. He graduated from Ohio State
University and received a doctorate in zoology there in 1956. He was a
professor and chairman of the department of biology of Douglass College at
Rutgers University from 1956 to 1968.

Survivors include his wife of 51 years, Jean Swinebroad of Montgomery
Village; two children, Amy Arnold of Coopersburg, Pa., and Eric Swinebroad
of Brenham, Tex.; and three grandchildren.

**********************

Lorie Leavy
Washington, D.C.