Bedford Audubon Society

Bedford Audubon President Jackie Jones welcomed members and guests to the St. Matthew's Church Reception Hall in Bedford, New York as we celebrated our 90th Anniversary and the holiday season on Wednesday, December 3, 2003. Jackie introduced several former BAS presidents who were in attendance, and one of them, John Askildsen gave a brief history of the chapter and its accomplishments. Click for more on BAS history.

Our distinguished guest speaker, Mr. Andrew Berner of New York City (shown below with Jackie Jones), presented a slideshow lecture entitled “Beauty and the Beasts: Natural History According to Mark Catesby." Mr. Berner is Curator of Collections and Library Director at the University Club of New York City.

Mark Catesby (1682-1749), was an English naturalist who spent ten years in the American colonies observing, researching, and painting native plants and animals. He devoted another 20 years to his monumental book: Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands. The results were the first comprehensive English-language study of American plants and animals. Lewis and Clark consulted the catalogue on their cross-country expedition in 1804-1806, and John James Audubon, born 31 years after Catesby died, used it as a model.