ARTIST, BIRDER, AND CARETAKER OF CENTRAL PARK’S BIRDS
For decades, Francis Lee Rogers, also known as Elise Bainbridge Hill, was a familiar presence in Central Park’s Ramble. To the birders, artists, park regulars, and friends who knew her there, she was simply Lee.
You might see her walking through the Ramble with her distinctive long braids, wide-brimmed hat, walking stick, and a bag filled with her artwork. She knew the birds, painted them, and for years helped keep the bird feeders filled.
Lee died on September 27 at the age of 63. Her sudden death has been deeply felt by the Central Park birding community and by the many others who knew her. Many have contributed to a memorial at the Rustic Shelter where Lee would often rest among her birds.
Lee also has an important connection to something many Linnaean Society members know well: the bird feeders at Evodia Field.
LEE AND THE BIRDS OF CENTRAL PARK
Lee did much more than watch the birds.
For years, she maintained a homemade network of feeders in the Ramble, suspending them from lines looped over high branches and keeping them supplied with seed and suet. She used her own money as well as donations from birders to keep the feeders full. The feeders became part of Lee’s life in the park and part of the experience of generations of Central Park birders.
Lee’s connection to the feeders also overlapped directly with the Linnaean Society. Years ago, when the feeders at Evodia Field needed replacing, LSNY member Will Papp worked with Lee to install new ones. He continued to help her over the years, delivering bags of seed and occasionally filling the feeders himself.
Today, that tradition of care continues through the Linnaean Society. LSNY volunteers Will Papp, Kevin Sisco, and Ken Chaya maintain and refill the bird feeders at Evodia Field, particularly during the winter months. The Society raises money through its birdseed fund to help pay for seed and other food. In honor of Lee, the Society renamed it the Lee Rogers Birdseed Fund.
REMEMBERING LEE
By Will Papp, LSNY member and longtime Central Park birder
I knew Lee for many years. Initially, I knew her as a fixture in the Central Park Boathouse Cafe and from seeing her wandering or sleeping in the Ramble. I also knew she set up and managed the feeders at Evodia Field in Central Park.
Many years ago, when we desperately needed new feeders, she and I worked together to replace them. From that point forward, we were on friendly terms. I would occasionally check in on her, help deliver bags of seed, and fill the feeders.
She worked hard to keep those feeders full, which wasn’t easy, and brought great joy to many people by doing so.
There are many stories I could share about Lee, but one in particular stands out. I sat next to her on a bench at Evodia Field to look at a collection of her watercolors. She showed me one of a Northern Saw-whet Owl, with its eyes wide open, perched on a branch.
After five minutes of describing the painting, she suddenly said, “A terrible thing happened!” After a couple of quiet minutes, she finally said, “It fell asleep.”
She then turned the watercolor over and very quietly said, “I had to paint it all over again with its eyes closed.” A big smile came to my face. I still cherish this lovely watercolor, which I purchased that day and which now graces my home.
AN ARTIST OF THE RAMBLE
The birds Lee cared for were also among her greatest artistic subjects.
She spent decades painting Central Park wildlife, creating hundreds of works that found their way into the homes of birders, friends, and collectors. She was often seen working at her regular table in the Central Park Boathouse café, sometimes using the plastic lid from a coffee cup as a palette while surrounded by windows looking out toward the lake and the Ramble.
Her surviving work provides an extraordinary record of the world she observed. Her own website is filled with paintings and drawings of owls, robins, raccoons, trees, and other inhabitants of Central Park. She even has a work titled Central Park Bird Feeders, bringing together two of the things with which she became so closely associated.
Central Park wasn’t simply where Lee made her art. It was what she painted. Birds dominate her work, but she also painted squirrels, raccoons, trees, landscapes, and familiar corners of the park. Taken together, the paintings show how closely she looked.
REMEMBERING LEE
By Jean Shum, LSNY member and longtime Central Park birder
In 2009, I noticed a woman doing pull-ups in the Pinetum. I was like, whoa… She put those guys to shame! That woman was Lee.
Birders in the park respected Lee. In the late fall, everyone would put their money together and hand it over to Lee to buy the seeds. She often spent time in the library researching the best feed. She even developed a homemade seed mix that was extra nutritious.
In 2012, I asked Lee if she wanted me to create an album on my website to showcase her artwork. She said yes. If she couldn’t find me in the park, she would take a picture of her latest painting with her cellphone and send it to me.
Lee used to draw on napkins and sell them for 5 bucks. She gradually upgraded as she made more money. Lee was not one to take handouts. She worked for her food and clothes on her back. She was independent, strong-willed, neat, and organized. She functioned best with a routine. She attended church on Sundays, went to Bible studies, swam at the 92nd Street Y every day, and cared for the feeders in the park.
Sadly, things changed during the pandemic. Lee became increasingly withdrawn and stayed away from people she had known. For whatever reason, she still mustered up the energy to say hello to me. I’ve asked her time and time again if there was anything I could get her, and the answer was always no. I knew several birders wanted to support her financially. I asked if she wanted me to start a GoFundMe or just collect cash and hand it over to her, and she said no.
It wasn’t until this winter that she let me buy some items for her. The last thing I brought her was a can opener. I gave it to her on Monday, and we chatted a bit. By Sunday, she was gone.
To me, I never looked at her as a homeless person. Central Park was her home! She was intelligent and super talented. She just needed a little support. I am deeply saddened by her passing.
I used to feel unsafe around Swampy Pin Oak, but I knew she was always watching my back from the rustic shelter. She would yell out, Jean, what are you looking for? I would tell her, and suddenly I would hear her calling me over because the bird I wanted was right by her. This happened several times, and it became a joke between us. I got to the point where I would walk up to her and give her my bird list.
I will forever miss her, but we had some good laughs that I will hold onto forever.
THE BIRDS SHE FED, THE BIRDS SHE PAINTED
Today, LSNY volunteers continue to care for and refill the bird feeders at Evodia Field, particularly during the winter months. Many people who stop at the feeders today won’t know their history, or the role Lee played in keeping them going. Those who knew her will.
Her paintings offer another record of the years she spent observing Central Park and its wildlife. Together, the birds she fed and the birds she painted tell an important part of Lee’s story and her long connection to this place.
Thank you, Lee, for the birds you fed, the birds you painted, and the beauty you found in Central Park.
— Kristin Ellington, Board of Directors with remembrances from Jean Shum and Will Papp
