love for birds

At the first cold snap in October, it seemed the nuthatches and chickadees in the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary in Topsfield expected him to be in place, his hands providing a perch from which they could feast on walnuts and sunflower seeds.

They had become so familiar with the tall man in his old cloth coat and scally cap coming year after year that “all the birds of the forest would fly tree to tree following us,’’ the man’s son recalled.

Hugh Wiberg, a legendary and beloved figure along the North Shore, famed for his All New England Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off at the Topsfield Fair, frequently took his children or grandchildren on annual visits into the sanctuary. He would give them nuts to feed the birds, said his son, Hugo the 3d, of North Reading, so they too could experience the magic.

Mr. Wiberg wrote of that in his book, “Hand-Feeding Backyard Birds.’’ He also authored another book, “Backyard Vegetable Gardening for the Beginner.’’

Mr. Wiberg, who also was known for his annual 42-mile Patriots Day hike from his home in Wilmington to his summer cottage in Greenland, N.H., and for playing second baritone horn in the New England Brass Band, died Oct. 2 at Wingate Nursing Home in Reading of diabetes and Lyme disease, which his family believes led to dementia.

He was 76 and had lived in Wilmington since 1961.

“Hugh was a Pied Piper sort of character with quirky but charming interests in giant pumpkins and hand-feeding wild birds,’’ said Mark Wilson of Dunstable, a wildlife photographer and former Globe staffer. “To talk with him was to get a barrel full of enthusiasm that was highly contagious.’’

Mr. Wiberg’s wife, the former Barbara Larson, described him as “a very warm and caring person. Everyone was equal as far as Hugh was concerned.’’

In profile, she said, he looked like New Hampshire’s Old Man of the Mountain. He had a quick sense of humor and “could laugh at himself,’’ she said.

Mr. Wiberg set an example for his children, they said. “Dad taught me patience, perspective, humor, generosity, and the appreciation of nature, and not to sweat the small stuff,’’ said one of his daughters, Heidi Hastings of North Reading.

Another daughter, Wendy Wiberg of North Reading, remembered him as “a very calm and peaceful man who never raised his voice. He really enjoyed the simple things in life, never chased the things money could buy. He was very much a giver.’’