Title and statement of responsibility area
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- Textual record
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Dates of creation area
Date(s)
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1966-2008 (Creation)
- Creator
- Bird, Hazel
- Place
- Northumberland, County of
Physical description area
Physical description
68 cm of textual records
1 USB memory stick.
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Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Hazel Bird (1920-2009) was a recognized naturalist known especially for her work in restoring the bluebird population of Northumberland County. Born in Northumberland County, Bird served in World War II where she met her husband, Tom Bird. The couple resided in Harwood, Ontario and had seven children; in the 1950s Tom Bird died due to a boating accident. In the 1960s, Hazel Bird initiated the Eastern Bluebird restoration project in Northumberland County and continued to coordinate and lead this project for almost 40 years; with the help of volunteers, “The Bluebird Lady,” as she was sometimes referred to, erected, monitored, and recorded information about the bird boxes until an accident in 2004 prevented her from doing so and resulted in the termination of the project. Bird was involved in many naturalist organizations in Ontario including the Ontario Outdoors Educator’s Council, The Willow Beach Field Naturalists and the Willow Beach Young Naturalists. She also taught classes, first as a volunteer, and then as a paid employee at the Laurie Lawson Outdoor Education Centre in Cobourg and was recognized for her work in 1996 receiving the Ontario Eastern Bluebird Society Conservation Award. In that same year it was announced by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife of Canada that the Eastern Bluebird, which had been designated as a “rare bird” since 1984, was no longer considered a species at risk. Bird died 1 February 2009. In 2012 the Nature Conservancy of Canada designated the Hazel Bird Nature Reserve in Ontario’s Rice Lake Plains in her honour.
Custodial history
Fonds was acquired by Trent University Archives in 2013 from Gerry Bird, son of Hazel Bird, via Todd Farrell of the Peterborough office of the Nature Conservancy of Canada. Further materials were acquired in 2014 from Gerry Bird via Val Deziel, also of the Peterborough office of the Nature Conservancy of Canada.
Scope and content
Fonds pertains to the work of Hazel Bird and her involvement with the Eastern Bluebird restoration project in Northumberland County. Included are 30 bird box observation journals, publications and newsletters of the Willow Beach Young Naturalists and the Willow Beach Field Naturalists, newspaper articles and information regarding the development of the bluebird project, statistical records, reports, and educational materials. The bird box observation journals also include notes about native flowers and other birds observed when checking the boxes. Also included are hundreds of letters which were sent to the Willow Beach Field Naturalists Club of Port Hope and to Bird requesting copies of the pattern and specifications of the bluebird nest box mentioned in two newspaper articles, Toronto Telegram, 14 May 1971 and Toronto Star, 19 September 1972; in these letters, many authors provide details of their experiences with bluebirds in various Ontario locations. Also included is a removable USB memory stick containing maps and lists which pertain to the locations of bluebird sightings/boxes referred to in the various statistical records and reports.
Notes area
Physical condition
Some of the notebooks in this fonds are dirty and worn and have lost their bindings as a result of being used extensively in the field by Hazel Bird. Some items are also musty smelling and have been subjected to mold. Researchers are requested to wear masks and gloves (available in the Archives).
Immediate source of acquisition
Fonds acquired from Gerry Bird in 2013 and 2014 via the Nature Conservancy of Canada, Peterborough Office.
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Name access points
- Bird, Hazel (Subject)
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Dates of creation, revision and deletion
18 June 2014
Language of description
- English