Profile of a Lifelong Birder – Betty Carson (1930 – 2025)
By Ann Carson
Many GGBA members got a glimpse into the life of my mother, long-time Bay Area birder Betty Carson, when they attended a book sale of her incredible collection after her passing in early March. With over 5,000 books in her library, on wide-ranging topics including African wildlife, Ancient Egyptian history, tropical ecology, California natural history and much more, her largest area of interest was birds, delighting and amazing the dozens of birders who came to browse.
My mother became a naturalist at an early age – shell collecting as a young girl on Southern California’s beaches and observing and recording notes on the birds in her San Fernando Valley backyard as a teenager. She moved north for college and earned a Zoology degree from UC Berkeley in 1951, followed by a Master’s degree in Biology from Oregon State and a second Master’s in Library Science from UC Berkeley. During her graduate years at Cal, she met and married my dad, Pete Carson, and they built a modest mid-century modern house at the top of the Berkeley Hills next to the vast open space of Tilden Regional Park. Pete and Betty raised three kids, all of us inspired by their love of the natural world. Family time for us involved frequent day trips to Marin County and its wild beaches, as well as camping trips in the Sierras.
Mom continued to develop her passion for birding and other aspects of natural history throughout her adult life. She was a unique individual, especially for her time. Never interested in fashion, fancy food or trinkets, she prioritized time in nature, travel and books. On weekends when we were little, for example, she sometimes treated herself to solo trips out to Alameda’s south shore, where she enjoyed witnessing the seasonal rhythms of the shorebird community while Dad watched the three of us for the morning. As we got older, she traveled further afield in search of birds and other wildlife, with regular trips to U.S. hotspots like Yosemite National Park, the Texas Gulf Coast, and Florida. She took dozens of international trips as well, logging nine trips to Africa and at least as many to South and Central America. Each time she traveled, she conducted extensive research to prepare herself for the experience, gradually accumulating an impressive personal library of books that she revisited each time she went back to a particular area. Someone viewing her collection, as those who attended the sale can attest, could trace her intellectual curiosity, as she followed threads of interest through her book purchases. In addition to her books, she kept field notes and life lists to document her experiences. When going through her files after her passing, for example, I found annual bird lists of the Berkeley Hills going back decades, as well as a large card catalog entitled “Africa Life List,” chock-a-block full of carefully organized index cards documenting when and where she saw hundreds of different bird and mammal species.
Not surprisingly, Mom worked as a librarian in Cal’s Biology Library. She enjoyed helping students access specific information during research projects, as it came so naturally to her. As her career ended before computers revolutionized libraries, she organized her own library the old-fashioned way, with a card catalog. Each time she purchased a book, she carefully typed up an index card and filed it in one of her meticulously organized card catalog drawers.
In recent years, as she became less mobile, her books were even more precious, and she became more of an armchair adventurer. Her books took her on journeys of discovery to every corner of the world, from Lewis and Clark canoeing across the young United States, to Charles Darwin exploring the Galapagos and Jane Goodall researching chimps in Africa. While she and I had taken many birding trips together over the years, it was a joy to read a few books alongside her during her final year, as it always brightened her spirits to talk about books. As always, she amazed me with her enthusiasm and intellectual curiosity about the natural world and the people who explore it.
By the time the book sale finished, we raised $800 for the Golden Gate Bird Alliance. A National Audubon member since her 20s, Mom would be happy to know that her books will be supporting the activities of her local chapter. What’s more, as I witnessed so many expressions of joy when individuals discovered particularly exciting titles on my mom’s shelves, I knew that her life’s work, her library, would live on and inspire others for decades to come.
Ann Carson, who recently retired after 34 years teaching high school biology and environmental science, lives in Colorado Springs, CO. Inspired by her mother’s adventurous life, she enjoys immersing herself in the natural world both in the Colorado Rockies and on eco travel trips throughout the US and beyond.