Every morning around the Circle, the songs of house sparrows, blue jays, and American robins fill the campus. While for many students, this music is simply part of the surrounding natural background, avid birdwatcher Charles Rogers ’24 has harbored a passion for the birds of Groton. After several years of hard work, his efforts have at last culminated in an illustrated birdwatching guide, Birds of Groton, which is now sold in the School Store.

Charles has long been fascinated by birds, recording his observations through crayon and colored pencil drawings throughout his childhood. His inspiration for writing the book came a few years ago during his application process to Groton. As he was visiting his brother John Rogers ’22, he asked former Classics teacher Andy Reyes what birds he had seen on campus and expressed his passion for birds. Months later, when John and Charles left for the summer, Dr. Reyes found a copy of Birds of Groton and Ayer by Bernard Hopkins, which he later gave to Charles.

While Charles enjoyed the book, he was frustrated that it did not contain any images of the birds themselves. So, a few years later, Charles decided to make his own illustrated guide for Groton students to read and learn from.

Charles’ process of making the book began with a series of FSAs starting in the fall of his Fourth Form year. During the afternoon, Charles would go on walks searching for birds, sketching their forms, and writing down their species. Afterwards, he would return to the Art Center to polish his drawings with the help of Visual Arts faculty Jennifer Ho. “Ms. Ho coached me in my art and gave me most of my ideas on how and where to start for most things surrounding this project,” Charles said. At the end of his Fourth Form fall, he presented his findings and illustrations in an art show at the De Menil Art Gallery.

In his Fifth Form year, Charles continued his research process about the behavior, migration, and physiology of birds with another FSA. “While the fall [of Fourth Form] was relatively simple and easy, spring of Fifth Form was much more challenging,” said Charles. Throughout this FSA, he wrote 32 papers consisting of in-depth research for every bird, a feat Charles described as “challenging [when] trying to write the equivalent of several essays on top of all my class work.” During the writing process, he combined his own field research with the findings of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology database, iBird Pro, and scholarly ornithological papers.

Having spent several years polishing his book, Charles is proud of his achievements. “It’s a nice feeling to have accomplished something of substance,” Charles said. “Something that people would trade money for.”

Charles plans to spend the rest of his life birdwatching, with his future goal to become an ornithologist. “I want to have my own lab,” Charles said. “I want to work for a university, discovering and researching something about birds or their environment that has a significant impact on their conservation and environmental health.”

Next time you are in the School Store, flip through the pages of Birds of Groton and even purchase a copy. As spring and the re-emergence of the birds fast approaches, Charles’ book will bring to the Circle abundant excitement and learning about the creatures that surround us.