Hi All,

The discovery of the Yellow-throated Warbler in the woods south of Stewart Park 
highlighted a question that I've wondered about for some time: why do most 
Ithaca birders refer to this area as "Renwick Woods" or "Renwick Bird 
Sanctuary" rather than "Fuertes Bird Sanctuary?" Based on the City of Ithaca's 
web site, it appears that the official name for this area is in fact "Fuertes 
Bird Sanctuary":

http://www.ci.ithaca.ny.us/parks/stewartpark.cfm

Even putting this aside, it's always puzzled me that Ithaca birders would favor 
the name of an early Ithaca settler over Louis Agassiz Fuertes. Not only is 
Fuertes one of America's greatest bird artists, but he is also one of our most 
illustrious Ithaca birding ancestors, having been very active in the Cayuga 
Bird Club and the local birding community for many years. I would think that we 
would want to celebrate Fuertes's name and use it to refer to the bird 
sanctuary that was named in his memory after his untimely death.

I am truly interested in learning why it is that so many use the name Renwick 
to refer to the Fuertes Bird Sanctuary. But, in the absence of any compelling 
reason for favoring Renwick over Fuertes, I'd also encourage birders to use the 
sanctuary's official name and honor Fuertes's legacy in the process.


Matt Medler
Ithaca
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