The Friends of Roger Tory Peterson, as the women call themselves, are organizing as a nonprofit with the leadership of Kathryn Burton, president of the East Lyme and Niantic Land Conservation Trust. Their goal is to purchase Roger Tory Peterson’s studio and its surrounding 2.7 acres, currently on the market for $335,000 as a single-family home, and converting it into an educational center. The Nature Conservancy owns 56 acres of surrounding land it purchased from the Peterson family in 2002.

Peterson is widely recognized as the man who helped transform the study of birds from that of capturing (read: shooting) and examining to watching or photographing them in their natural setting and then using those observations to create detailed illustrations.

via The Day – Group is hoping to save a special nest.

In a letter to the editor of The Day, titled: “Help Save the Roger Tory Peterson Studio in Old Lyme,” Kathryn Burton wrote:

“No human being, since the beginning of time, had as vast a positive impact on the lives of birds worldwide, as Noah and his Ark, until Roger Tory Peterson produced his field guides on birds.

“The guides became portable teaching tools for anyone who sought more knowledge of these beautiful and amazing creatures and a way to identify them in the wetlands or forests, on the coasts and in the mountains, through his descriptions, paintings and photographs. He had a major impact on the tourism industry, the camera and film industry, but more importantly, the lives of the birds who no longer had to be sacrificed in order to prove a species identity, because the picture was proof.

“The Friends of Roger Tory Peterson are seeking to keep the studio in which he worked and painted, as a place where educational programs will be offered, the man and his works discussed and remembered,and people who love birds can meet and discuss the latest birding news. Roger would love that

“For information: Kathryn Burton, pres. KBurton759@aol.com.
“Old Lyme “