Jackson Miles Abbott Jackson Miles Abbott ( January 25 , 1920 – 1988 ) was an American Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army Corps of Engineers , a birdwatcher and painter . He was the son of wildlife art ist Jacob Bates Abbott . He is the only artist to ever place both first and second in the same year in the Federal Duck Stamp contest . The Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge at Fort Belvoir in Fairfax , Virginia was named in his honor . Early life and military service . Jackson Miles Abbott was born in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania in 1920 . He was the son of wildlife painter Jacob Bates Abbott . As a youth , Abbott lived in New England and southern California . He came into birdwatching when he was six years old . He attended Swarthmore College for zoology . In 1941 he joined the United States Army and in 1942 he was stationed in the Caribbean . For two years he designed and engineered camouflage for the Army . He graduated from the Officer Candidate School in August , 1943 . During World War II he earned a Bronze Star Medal . Post - war , he became an intelligence officer and a field manual writer . In 1949 he became a Technical Intelligence Specialist for the Army Map Service , working in Korea . In the United States Army Corps of Engineers he rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel . Birding and environmentalism . Upon joining the Army in 1941 , Abbott started the Annual Christmas Bird Count at Fort Belvoir . The count has taken place yearly , as part of the Audubon Society . He lived and worked in Alexandria , Virginia , where he studied birds living on the Potomac River and the surrounding area . He focused on the American Bald Eagle in the upper Chesapeake Bay . With the bald eagle , he studied their nest eggs . After observations , if an egg didn ' t eventually hatch , the egg would be taken to a laboratory and tested for DDT exposure . He bird ringed 1 , 400 birds during a seven - month period as part of a migration study by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service . In the early 1960s he produced a " bird hazard survey " at Reagan National Airport for the Civil Aeronautics Administration . Abbott also led land conservation efforts in the areas of northern Virginia . He helped conserve Huntley Meadows Park and Dyke Marsh . He also fought against the spreading of the hydrilla plant in Potomac watershed . As a writer on the subject of birds , he wrote a weekly column on birds for " The Washington Star " and published works about the birds of Fort Belvoir , bird attraction and the birds of Trinidad and Tobago . Art . Abbott learned to draw from his father . In 1951 he began publishing his artwork . He won the Federal Duck Stamp award in 1957 – 59 for his painting of Common Eider . That same year , he also came in second , for his painting of the Pale - bellied Brant Goose . He is the only person to ever place first and second in the duck stamp contest . The Common Eider stamp was released on July 1 , 1957 , sold for $ 2 and sold over 2 . 35 million copies . In total , he created over 1 , 500 works in his lifetime . Death and legacy . He died on May 3 , 1988 , of cancer in Fairfax , Virginia . He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery . In 1989 , the United States Army Corps of Engineers founded and named the Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge at Fort Belvoir after him . The refuge is a 150 - acre tract . His archives reside in the Smithsonian Institution Archives .