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CONNIE HAGAR: HER LIFE AND CONTRIBUTIONS All photos used with express permission from the Friends of Connie Hagar. Connie Hagar Photo Gallery Connie Hagar Cottage Sanctuary Connie Hagar Wildlife Sanctuary Reproduction of these photographs is strictly prohibited and protected by copyright. |
Jack was different than other men in the respect that he was refreshing, pleasant, and had the ability to make her really laugh...sometimes at herself. They continued to date for 5 years and he finally asked her to marry him. Connie, with already one failed marriage was hesitant, but Jack was persistent. One day her mother noticed she was still struggling with the marriage question and blurted out "Why don't you just marry him? He's never going to stop asking!" She wasn't even sure what she was waiting for, after all she was almost forty years old. She openly admitted her love of Jack and after plenty of soul-searching, and talks with the sister she held so dear, she decided to marry Jack in April of 1946. Jack built a beautiful house for them, and Connie was very happy with Jack. However, within their first year of marital bliss, Connie's mother had a stroke. Both she and Jack moved back into the Victorian home of her childhood and took care of her mother. They resided there for 3 long years while Mattie lay bedridden, but would eventually return to the "House that Jack built." As time went by she and her steadfast nature companion, Bert (who had also married by this time) continued their nature studies in memory of their father. Bert had the idea to start a "nature club" in Corsicana. They eventually had 18+ members and would meet on someone's lawn every other week to study plants, birds, wildlife, and the stars. One day Connie was reading a magazine article that was requesting volunteers to conduct a biological survey for the U.S. government. Needless to say, she and Bert volunteered for the survey. They were to band birds and then continue to watch and keep count as they returned each year, if migratory, or document when the bird was seen again locally. The year was 1934. Their nature group had also become affiliated with the National Audubon Society and the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs. Indoor meetings alternated with field trips to surrounding areas of Texas to include The Big Thicket and Big Bend National Park. Connie and Bert were asked often to speak on certain topics at the nature meetings in neighboring counties, but there were no visual aids to help the listeners learn. Speech writing was always a challenge which resulted in too many topics and really nothing to show. The only guide they had at the time was Reed's Little Handbook and old files from National Geographic and Nature magazines. They did not use binoculars or scopes as ornithologist do now. Connie did however collect and study bird nests which enabled people to become familiar with the bird species and their nesting habits. It also allowed her audience to see the construction of the nest, touch the different materials used to build the nest, and become familiar with nest architecture. This peaked listeners interest greatly. Over the years, Connie's hands had become arthritic which made it hard to band birds, and her eyesight was going bad too. It was later determined that it was glaucoma and surgery was successfully performed and her eyesight restored for a period of time. Connie continued with her group nature studies but was taken-by the pictures of shorebirds and she made plans to take a vacation along the Texas coastline. Although Jack made himself a part of every aspect of Connie's life, it was she and Bert that made the first trip to Rockport, Texas - a small resort community (1933). When they arrived and had unpacked their bags, they set-out for Little Bay. They swam, splashed, and played along the shoreline while watching the clever and skillful "skimmers." By using the pictures books she carried with her, she and Bert began identifying all the birds they saw. They reported their sightings to the Nature Club upon their return. Then one day back in Corsicana while laboring over breakfast (both the women felt eating was a big time-waster) they talked about Rockport and all its birds. Bert looked at Connie with a twinkle in her eye and said "What's holding us here? Let's go back." And so they did! Along the waterfront, Connie and Bert learned how to identify the larger herons, and smaller terns from a distance as they didn't know about binoculars. There was a hard-hitting storm in late July that left many birds dead and Connie collected them for study. The women did not know about an upcoming and knowledgeable ornithologist by the name of Roger Tory Peterson, much less his newly published "Peterson's Field Guide" book. Soon however, it was brought to their attention and Connie rejoiced upon purchasing the book saying "I feel as if someone has lifted me from a heavy fog." In 1935, Connie and Jack moved to Rockport and purchased the Rockport Cottages (8 units in all located on Church St. @ First St.) in 1935. These were truly the happiest days of her life, although she had many happy days. Birding became everything and as her popularity grew, she was often asked to write articles for the Rockport Pilot and San Antonio Express newspapers. In 1936 the San Antonio Express gave her a 5-column headline: "Texas Gulf Coast is Haven for Bird Life." CONTINUE TO PAGE 2 OF LEGENDARY BIRD WOMAN - CONNIE HAGAR
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