From the Original Edition

I gratefully acknowledge the assistance of my husband, Franklin W. Sturges, as photographer and scientific consultant for this book. Dr. Sturges began his avian ecological studies at Hubbard Brook as a co-investigator with Dr. Richard T. Holmes of Dartmouth College with the assistance of National Science Foundation grants. He is presently professor of biology and chairman of the science and mathematics division at Shepherd College, Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

I wish to thank Dr. Gene Likens of Cornell University and Dr. F. Herbert Bormann of Yale University for the personal courtesies extended to me and my family while we were living at Pleasant View near Hubbard Brook. To Dr. Likens I am I am deeply indebted for a personal guided tour of Langmuir Ecology Laboratory at Cornell University and for his willingness to share freely his deep concern for and knowledge of our environment and the Hubbard Brook project.

This book is warmly dedicated to the kind and friendly students who accepted Sheryl and Karen into the Hubbard Brook community.

Patricia Patterson Sturges, 1975

For the Revised Edition

Like our mother, we thank the members of the Hubbard Brook research community for their participation, support, and input, as well as for continuing to welcome us into this remarkable community. We are grateful to find that the fun, engaging, curious, and supportive atmosphere we experienced as “birders’ daughters” in the 1970′s still exists in one of the world’s largest laboratories in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

In particular, we deeply appreciate the encouragement we have received from Gene and Phyllis Likens, Dick and Debbie Holmes, and, before his passing, Herb Bormann. We could not have taken on this project without the help and guidance of The Hubbard Brook Research Foundation, its Board Chairman Steve Hamburg, Executive Director David Sleeper and all of its talented and dedicated staff members. Finally, our deep appreciation to the generations of  researchers who have shared their stories with us. Any errors or omissions are, of course, ours alone.

Sheryl Sturges and Karen Sturges-Vera, 2013