The pelican field note by Howard Cogswell was summarized by Caroline Daugherty because she was the rare bird compiler at that time. She reported the pelican observation by Howard Cogswell as follows:

"WHITE PELICANS; Howard Cogswell reports an estimated 2500 migrating westward over the San Gabriel Mountains on March 28 [1950]."

Interestingly, only 9 days earlier on March 19, Howard Cogswell was at the coast by the Santa Monica Pier, not in the mountains doing his chaparral research. What day of the week was March 19, a Sunday so he was taking a day of rest and relaxation and recreation with family and friends at the Pier?

For context, in 1950, Howard Cogswell had returned from his military duty in the Navy and he was enrolled in graduate school at the University of California (Berkeley) in an effort to earn a PhD. His research topic for his PhD dissertation was focused in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County. He was studying the avifauna of the chaparral in the foothills above Pasadena and Glendora. It was here in the mountains above Los Angeles in the National Forest, while conducting his field research on chaparral birds that Howard Cogswell observed this large flock of White Pelican flying overhead.

After conducting field studies in Los Angeles County, Howard Cogswell returned to Berkeley to write up his results. Following the completion of his PhD studies at Berkeley, Howard Cogswell remained in the San Francisco Bay region because he secured a teaching position nearby to Berkeley at Mills College. It appears clear at this time that Howard Cogswell would become a permanent resident of the shores of San Francisco Bay. IT was not long afterward that he became a professor of biological sciences for a new California State University that was built in Hayward. At this university, he spent his career teaching students about birds and ecology. He also began research on his magnum opus, a 399 page book entitled: Water Birds of California. The book was completed in 1978 and it reached the public with great success as a selection for the "California Natural History Guide" series (number 40). The section of Howard's book that dealt with the ecology of the American White Pelican is appropriate to quote here as it complements nicely with historical context his observation of the White Pelican in Los Angeles County approximately 28 years earlier:

"A ......"

The Ballona Institute, located in Playa del Rey, California now has four copies of Howard Cogswell's book: Waterbirds of California. One copy of this book at the Ballona Intsitute has a jacket cover with an excellent portrait photograph of Howard Cogswell. Although the photograph is in "black and white" the photograph shows Howard seated at his desk in his university office with with a great big smile on his face. Howard is pictured wearing his glasses, with his hands holding a map.

The Ballona Institute has assembled a biographic file and history file about the life of Howard Cogswell as a birder and ornithologist which has a good selection of articles written by him and about him. The archived file is especially rich in the early part of Howard's life in Los Angeles County, when he resided near Pasadena (Glendora) and was affiliated with the Los Angeles Audubon Society. Some of these writings were published in the Western Tanager, a newsletter of the Los Angeles Audubon Society, for whom he was employed as a sanctuary manager for several years at the San Gabriel River Bird Sanctuary, now known as Whittier Narrows Nature Center and managed by the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation. A forthcoming biography of Howard Cogswell to be published by the Ballona Institute and written by this writer, who is a co-director of the Ballona Institute. Sadly, Howard Cogswell passed away in his early 90s in the spring of 2006, after leading a very rich life.