I am sad to pass along news of the death of Tom Burr, who loved nature in general and the Celery Farm in particular.

Those who knew Tom will miss his friendship, his keen sense of humor, and his vast knowledge of plants and bugs and biology (he did, after all, teach biology for 41 years).

Tom was a leader on several nature walks in the Celery Farm, in large part because he enjoyed sharing his affection for all things natural. Tom especially loved to lead the annual butterfly walk (in his wonderfully unassuming way).

Tom kept a wonderful nature blog,  BIOS & LOGOS, that reflected his personality and beliefs (link is here).

Tom was also a crackerjack nature photographer, with a great eye and a macro lens on his digital camera. He contributed yearly to the Celery Farm calendar. Many of his photos can be seen on the Fyke Nature Association website. The link is here.

He also wrote and photographed several nature books -- books that reflected his abiding love of a world that most people never bother to notice.  (Go to the link to Tom's blog and scroll to the bottom.)

Tom also contributed several photos and comments to this blog -- and bailed me out many times with the Monday Morning Mystery. The guy flat-out knew his stuff.

One of my favorite Tom memories was from 2009 when we were on one of his guided walks he was, in the butterfly garden.

From out of nowhere, a Red Admiral alighted on his shirt sleeve, and a smile of joy lighted up Tom's face.

I always thought everybody loved Tom, including the butterflies, and that was the clincher.

Tom died last night after along illness.

He will be sorely missed but never forgotten.