Comox Valley Naturalists Society

Sunday, January 19, 2003
Betty Brooks
Tracking Allan Brooks

The travels and wildlife art of well known naturalist/artist Allan Brooks were featured at the meeting of the Comox Valley Naturalists Society. "Tracking Allan Brooks" was presented by guest speaker and CVNS member Betty Brooks on Sunday January 19.

Allan Brooks (1869-1946) was to Canadians in the first half of the 20th century as Robert Bateman is to-day. Noted wildlife artists Bateman and J. Fenwick Lansdowne were both greatly influenced and inspired by his work. Brooks was internationally recognized and is still ranked among the world's great bird artists to-day.

A brilliant naturalist, he published over 100 articles and was known in North America as the ÔPope of OrnithologyÕ. He illustrated many books and articles, including the first ÔBirds of Western CanadaÕ and ÔBirds of CanadaÕ. Not by choice, he had to depend on commissions from the US to make a living, illustrating several books on birds of US states, as well as a bird series in twenty National Geographic Magazines of the 1930Õs. He spent the winters in Comox and died there in Jan. 1946.

Betty Brooks is a director and founding member of the Oyster Bay Park Association and Strathcona Wilderness Institute. She was turned on to bird watching at the age of 10 by the Brooks bird illustrations which appeared in ÔCanadian NatureÕ, a children's magazine of the 1940Õs and 50Õs. ÒI took to nature like a duck to water,Ó she says, Òand later managed to study botany and zoology in university, financing myself by working summers as a park naturalist, and teaching music part time in the winter. I was in fact, the first female naturalist (interpreter) to be hired in B.C. Parks.Ó

Betty BrooksÕ work has included research, interpretation and consulting, as well as a lot of volunteer work in parks and conservation projects. She is now carrying on the research on Brooks started by her late husband Allan, son of Allan Brooks Sr. Her slide talk included the Brooks connection with Comox, and the new Allan Brooks Nature Centre in Vernon BC.

Click on a link below to view descriptions of previous guest speakers.