“I have traveled a good deal in Concord,” said Thoreau, with his usual Yankee irony. To explore this small town, far away from any oceans or urban centers, would not seem to qualify as “travel.” But Thoreau was a man who could see Homeric drama in the movements of an ant colony; a New England town, then, with its social and natural life, was more than enough to have “traveled a good deal” in. Thoreau belongs to a long line of Concordians who have taught us how to travel a good deal in seemingly quiet places.
Peter Alden, naturalist and writer, is a living member of that line. He has spent a lifetime enjoying, studying, and preserving Concord’s unique natural heritage. As a naturalist he has instigated major scientific initiatives to study Concord’s ecosystem, and also led thousands of ordinary people on nature tours in Concord and around the world. As a writer he has likewise penned both scientific articles and field guides that open up the natural world to his readers. Like Thoreau, Alden has not only traveled a good deal, but he invites us to travel with him.
Born in the most estimable place in the world
Alden’s roots reach deep into local history, as he is a descendent of Mayflower crewman John Alden. He was born in Concord at Emerson Hospital. Growing up in the town, his birdwatching father taught him to love nature from an early age. Alden fondly remembers hiking with his father and borrowing his binoculars when they spotted a great blue heron. Soon he was birding by himself, and he recalls, “When I saw my first cardinal I ran home to tell my father.” These childhood experiences in Concord set Alden on the path that would define his adult life. Today, he likes to quote the saying of Thoreau: “I have never got over my surprise that I should have been born in the most estimable place in the world.”
By the time Alden was in high school he was already looking for ways to bring his love of nature to his community. While still a sophomore he instigated the Concord Christmas Bird Count, an annual event where volunteers count and identify all of the birds within the town’s proximity. “By the time I came on the scene there were maybe 100 bird counts around the country,” says Alden, “And I thought, ‘Gee, why don’t we have one in Concord with our great tradition?’” When Alden applied to the Massachusetts Audubon Society with his idea, he was so young that he had to enlist a neighbor to be the sponsor in his stead. The first bird count commenced in his backyard, and the event carries on to this day. “We usually lead the nation in the number of birdwatchers participating in our event,” Alden asserts with pride.
Red-tailed hawk at Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge
| ©Ko BaryjamesTo live deliberately
During and after college, Alden continued working with the Audubon Society. They hired him to organize nature tours across all seven continents. He led safaris to the Outback, the pacific coast of Mexico, the mountains of India, and anywhere that there were birds to be seen. He also began to write books about wildlife from around the globe, including a best-selling series of field guides to the United States. Alden’s activities eventually brought him into contact with the renowned naturalist E.O. Wilson, who has been called “the new Darwin” and “the father of biodiversity.” Alden and Wilson shared a love for Concord and for Thoreau, and in 1998 they organized the world’s first bioblitz in Concord.
The bioblitz took the bird count a step further by bringing together experts in a wide range of species from around the country to catalogue the full diversity of Concord’s ecosystem. At the same time, it allowed insect experts and mushroom experts, or plant experts and frog experts, to communicate outside of the siloed academy. The event began at Walden Pond on July 4th, to commemorate not just Independence Day, but the day that Thoreau moved into his cabin. Alden and Wilson’s bioblitz model was subsequently picked up by the state of Massachusetts and then by National Geographic. There are now bioblitzes taking place in 40 countries around the world.
Great blue heron at Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge
| ©Ko BaryjamesPreservation of the world
Alden works with residents and conservation groups to protect Concord’s unique and diverse habitats. On the whole, Alden believes that Concord’s habitats are exceptionally well protected, saying “a lot of unselfish people in the past have donated money, land, and estates to preserve as much as we can of the rural and natural character of Concord.” But for Alden, conserving Concord’s habitats matters on scientific as well as environmental grounds. No other town’s ecosystem has been documented as Concord’s has by Thoreau and his successors. “We have the oldest record in the country of what was going on for over 170 years here in Concord because of Thoreau and other people around him in the 1800s making notes on the wildlife.” That record makes Concord a living resource for the study of migration, climate change, and other phenomena, which is why Alden believes “that protecting habitat here is more important than in any other place in the inland United States.”
Despite having traveled a good deal all over the world, Peter Alden has ended up back in his childhood home of Concord. But the town has more than a personal significance to him; he also regards it as a highly “estimable place” to be a naturalist. As important as Concord’s birds, trees, and flowers are its people, both living and dead, who have learned and taught how to see such things with a more appreciative, penetrating eye. “Our habitats are important, our literary tradition is important,” Alden says, “and the fact that so many great naturalists have lived here, written about things here, and organized things here makes it a very special place.” And Alden belongs to that ongoing tradition which keeps Concord a very special place.
