I met John Yrizarry in September of 1988. I was a beginning birder and he was the instructor of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) birding class that I had just signed up to take. My experience with birds was basically limited to the Cardinal and Blue Jay that I had gotten to know from the recently established bird feeder that I set up in my backyard. I remember the first bird that I saw with John right outside of the administration building in BBG. It was a Red-eyed Vireo and as I was later to find out this bird was called a “lifer” for me as it was the first time in my life that I had seen the bird. It was great! I started to ask John all kinds of questions about birds and birding and through his enthusiasm and knowledge I began learning. John told me and the class about the terminal moraine that went right through Brooklyn and especially Prospect Park and Greenwood Cemetery. Prospect Park was his favorite venue and he only lived a block away. We saw, on that brisk fall day, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird, a bird I didn’t know existed and better than that a bird that could be found right in Brooklyn. John told us why it didn’t have a ruby throat and that it was a female migrating south. All his knowledge bestowed on our group made the classes a real treasure for all the students. John really touched a nerve in me and my enthusiasm which he ignited has remained with me for all these years.
He made every trip exciting with tons of knowledge about birds, plants, butterflies and the entire natural world that we experienced. There were always stories related to birding and sometimes he acted them out getting many laughs from the class. As I got to know John better I found out that he was a top bird artist and illustrator. At that time he was working on the “Parrots,” a project for the U.S. Government to identify birds that were being smuggled into the U.S. I also found out that he illustrated some of the plates in the “Birds of Colombia,” the number one book for any birder going to Colombia.
With the BBG group John took us to many birding hotspots in the NYC area. I remember my first trip to Riis Park where I recorded my first Brown Creeper and to Jones Beach where I actually ran after a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, another “lifer.” In 1990 John led me and the BBG group on our first overnight birding adventure to Delmarva. We saw about 100 bird species. But more importantly, it was the beginning of the socialization of birding—traveling with a group of people, getting to know them and enjoying the great venues with people of like interests. John made us all feel as one. I have to thank John for all that.
In 1992 we talked John into leading a birding trip to Venezuela. It was so popular that we had to have a huge bus to transport all of our group, I believe 25 in all. His wife Mary came with us. She made everything work smoothly and found many of the birds. John and Mary were the team that made birding that great experience that it was and still is. The BBG birding classes continued every spring and every fall. It was something that you always looked forward to. No matter what happened during the week, at your job or your home, you always knew that there was birding with John on Saturday.
John moved from Brooklyn up to Sterling Forest. Through his actions and with the help of his wife Mary they protected the 17,000 acres that we visit for birding. It was the breeding location of what I believe to be his favorite bird, Golden-winged Warbler. The commute from Sterling Forest to Brooklyn on Saturday started to become too much for him. So in the fall of 2002, John asked me to take over the guiding of the BBG group. It is a position that I still have to this day.
John made all of this possible. He was the inspiration for getting out in nature, being a birder, working with people and basically just enjoying life. He will be truly missed.
— Joe Giunta