Bessie Cornelius Interview, Part 2 of 2

DT: Bessie, you were telling me just a moment ago about an earlier story of trying to protect the woods and passing out petitions. Could you repeat that again...

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BC: Tell you that again? Yeah. We were standing at-it was a-it was on the-Friday I think, Friday or Saturday. Anyway, we were standing in the front of Kroger's grocery store and planting-passing out flyers and said, have a-vote-vote tomorrow and wanted to say a few words to the people that would come along and so there was one that came out and I knew it and I was going to give him a flyer. He snarled at me and he was kind of threw his hands out and said, I should have you girls arrested.

DT: This was about the Delaware...

0:01:31 - 2059 BC: Yeah Delaware Street Park and we were trying to save the trees-trees there and we were, of course, working hard to-setting out there all day wasn't any fun, you know.

DT: Were you allowed to stand out in front of other grocery stores?

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BC: No the other-the-Kroger's was the only grocery store in the town that we-that we had approached-that we-we asked them all if they would let us do it.

DT: What did the others tell you?

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BC: Well they just didn't think it would be good business. It was-you see they didn't want to rile up a man like the one that told us he was going to have us arrested.

DT: We've talked a number of times about your love of birds and I understand that it took you not just to places like High Island and Bolivar Flats and other places on the Texas Coast but it has taken you around the world...

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BC: Yes, I gone to-well 31 countries, maybe 33 countries, it depends on how they-yeah, you can count some of them.

DT: I hear that you've been on canoe trips and dugout trips, can you tell about some of the adventures in some of these?

0:02:58 - 2059 BC: Well we were in Ecuador-we were in a little dugout boat. It was a pretty long one though. Anyway there were quite a few people in it and Frances Weir, one of our conservationists and a birdwatcher was there and her daughter, Jenny. And we-one of the birds that we were looking for-this-it was a little-just a little late and one of the birds we were looking for throughout this whole trip was the-the Harpy Eagle and we started out and had gone just a little ways across the-the end of the lake and all at once Jenny said, "Well oh I believe that's a Harpy Eagle." She knew and so, of course, Victor Emanuel, he was-he was at the front of the boat and he-he stopped right away and oh boy, was he excited and sure enough, it was. And the-the bird flew and the Harpy Eagle flew across the lake and we-we had wonderful looks at it. That was a wonderful bird to see because of the scarcity and-and the-the immensity of it. And also some of its habits-it eats monkeys or-so that's its main food.

DT: It sounds like birding and your interest in protecting birds has taken you to the far ends of the world. Can you say maybe why it's been so important to you?

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BC: Well I just love-love birds. That's all you can say because we've asked other people that. Almost everyone say that. I don't know why people do love birds. It's-it's sort of a question, you know. It's maybe because they have a lot more freedom than we do. That may be the answer. I-I like them because of their-a lot of them are so-they're just beautiful things, beautiful feathers, beautiful colors. And in their-their-things they do and the-I don't know. I just like them.

DT: Are there some unusual things they do that you enjoy watching?

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BC: Well can't think of any just now that you asked me.

DT: Are there any sort of pet birds that you're particularly fond of or do you like them all?

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BC: I like them all I think that's-it's probably-still probably the trash birds.(misc.)

DT: We often ask people what are their favorite places to go in the out-of-doors that they enjoy the most.

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BC: You mean the countries or...

DT: Sure.

0:06:15 - 2059 BC: Well I-I think the country that I enjoyed the most because of the birds, it has such a wealth of birds because there are so many birds, was Australia. Australia and the-Australia and Tasmania, those two-those are two of the large country that-country there.

DT: Were there particular places there that were very beautiful?

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BC: And oh yes, there certainly were. There were-were-were many places of course. The west coast of Australia is very interesting and the town of, for instance, the City of Perth has enormous botanical gardens and the-there-of course, the birds there were just more birds than you can think of. They were there just wild, you know. So then also Mongolia-Outer Mongolia was another place that was interesting. Yeah. And that was a trip that we went on with the Massachusetts Audubon Society. We went to Moscow and then St. Petersburg and then we took this long plane ride and go to Siberia. And Siberia was interesting. The-it was a little too early or a little bit cold but we went on to Mongolia, Outer Mongolia, and there we stayed in yurts which is a-I guess everyone knows what a yurt is. It's sort of a tent. It's really a beautiful tent and you-at least, well that's where we slept and they had a-another large, large yurt that they had for a dining room. So anyway the-and-the Gobi Desert was interesting and there we saw the Lamagards, it's a-it's an eagle and they're-and there-that's always a bird that birdwatchers want to see is the Lamagard. And there were-there were quite a few in the Altai Mountains and there were great herds of sheep and cattle and these cowboys, these Gobi cowboys would come riding down and the thing of it, they were going to-to take our camp, we were camping, camped out there. And that-not yurts but little tents and that was sort of an adventure to me, you know. And then we had a trip up into the Altai-Altai Mountains and way up along some of the frozen ridges to see the-the Snowcock. That was a bird that we-everyone wanted to see but I didn't get up that far. But El-but Jenny Hughey(?) did and she saw it. She said briefly. But the Gobi Desert was very interesting. It was the-lots more birds than you think it would have and then, of course, they were all different than our birds and they were-it was-we got lost in the desert at one time. No one seemed to mind the-no one seemed to care whether we were lost or not. And-but that was an interesting trip. Very interesting.

DT: It sounds like you've taken many trips. I understand you've amassed a bird list of over 3000 birds in your lifetime...

0:10:35 - 2059 BC: Yeah. Yeah 3000 birds. But that's really not very many, you know, according to-to the birdwatchers today.(misc.)

DT: Well you're modest. Can you say that there are threats that these birds face again and again?(misc.)

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BC: Oh you mean if-I don't really understand.

DT: Do you see problems that these birds face around the world?

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BC: Oh that they are-that they're disappearing, right? You mean...

DT: Yeah.

0:11:23 - 2059 BC: Oh I should say so. The whole-the-the birds of the world are-are disappearing.

DT: Why do you think that is?

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BC: Well I-I think it's because of our-I think it's too many people and that the pesticides that we're using and I think it's because of the many other things that we're doing that is harming the human population and also the bird population. And smoke and the air pollution.

DT: Well, with all these daunting problems, do you have words of advice to people who may carry on from what you've been doing?

0:12:21 - 2059 BC: Well I certainly advise people to-to get into conservation if they can. They-conservation of all sorts especially I think we need to conserve the habitat for the birds and other wildlife. And I believe that that's the most important thing and I think that anyone that wants to get into it will get much more out of it than they put into it. I certainly did.

DT: Well thank you for giving so much through the years and today with us. Thanks very much.

0:12:56 - 2059 BC: Well thank you too. I've enjoyed it.