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Day of indulging hobby ends in bird lover's death

A nature enthusiast dies in a car crash after attending an Audubon Society event.

By LOGAN NEILL
Published December 19, 2005

	Related: Fans of the feathered

BROOKSVILLE - Stephen Collins spent his last day doing something that brought great joy to him: bird watching.

Collins was among the first participants to arrive shortly after dawn Saturday at Chinsegut Hill for the Hernando Audubon Society annual Christmas bird count at the Chinsegut Nature Center. And he was among the last to leave.

But Collins, 53, never made it to his home in Timber Pines. Shortly after 6 p.m., Collins' 1997 BMW was broadsided at Lake Lindsey Road and U.S. 98 north of Brooksville by a 1998 Mustang driven by Christopher Bolden, 21, of Beverly Hills, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

Both men were transported to Brooksville Regional Hospital, where Collins died of his injuries. The hospital would not provide information on Bolden's condition.

The news of Collins' death saddened members of the small group of birders who accompanied him during Saturday's outing.

"He was a very enthusiastic birder, and he loved any opportunity to get out into the woods," said Bev Hanson, who along with her husband, Al, spent the day trudging through dense thickets with Collins searching for birds that flock to the area during the late fall and winter. Collins spotted one of the day's more unusual finds, a purple gallinule, perched on a tree near a pond, Hanson said.

"It was lucky that Steve was along," Hanson said. "The rest of us probably would have missed it."

Collins, who was single, retired recently with a disability from his job as an environmental engineer in Massachusetts, said his mother, Barbara Ludwig, and he moved to Spring Hill to help care for her. He recently bought a villa in Timber Pines and began devoting his free time to bird watching and nature photography.

Ludwig described her son as a quiet, gentle man who enjoyed helping others. His passion for birding grew from a childhood fascination with nature and the outdoors. He began volunteering with the Hernando Audubon Society's Christmas bird count in the late 1990s but was unable to participate for several years because of work. Saturday's bird count was Collins' first since his return to Florida.

"Knowing that my son spent his last hours of life doing a good deed is a comfort for me," Ludwig said. "But I can't help asking, "Why did God do this?"'

No charges have been filed in the accident, which is still under investigation, the patrol said.

[Last modified December 19, 2005, 01:38:18]