DARE TO BIRD

I have been following the adventures of Birdgirl aka Mya-Rose Craig since the tv program that aired in 2010 called "Twitchers" came out and she was 7 years old. If you haven't seen Twitchers here is a clip that talks about Mya. From even that young age she was a force to be reckoned with. She lives in Britain and is now 17 years old. She is miles ahead of her time and has now been awarded an honorary doctorate from Bristol University. She preaches about the benefits of diversity in birding and how she has struggled with racism in this hobby. For speaking out about racism she has also been criticized which is difficult for someone so young. It is sad a 17 year old had but any person of colour would tell you this is not unusual. For far too long it was generally believed that minorities do not enjoy birding or outdoor activities as much as Caucasians. Even the local outdoor company MEC had to start including Black and Asians in their ads due to intense criticism (see...

Ilya and I spent Family Day with a beautiful flock of Evening Grosbeaks in Maple Ridge today.  These birds are declining and are now listed as a species of special concern under COSEWIC in Canada. Since the 1970's these birds have experienced 77-90% declines across their range. They are mostly declining due to loss of their habitat (mature and old-growth forests), road collisions (when they feed on grit in winter) and window strikes.  They are truly one of my most favorite birds; a large and beautiful finch. Any bird that is yellow is always cool in my books. Yellow is just such a happy colour!. It took a lot of patience in the cold to get these photos but it was worth every minute. Simple things like sharing these special moments in birding with those you care about make it so memorable. Evening Grosbeaks in Maple Ridge - Photos: Melissa Hafting

Yesterday, I drove 10.5 hours to see a stunning Ivory Gull in Polson, Montana. Let me back up. You probably remember my sob story back in 2017. I was in Nome and missed an Ivory Gull by literal minutes... As I was parking my car it flew away.... and did I mention a Ross's Gull was with it?!. Yep it was two lifers. It's still painful to talk about haha but if you want to read it, you can do so HERE . Well part of that was rectified today when I saw this bird!. The minute I pulled up at the Blue Bay Campground at Flathead Lake I was mesmerized. The bird was on Flathead Reservation land owned by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai First Nations Peoples. This bird has been present from at least Jan 29th. It glowed so bright as it swam circles in front of me. Seeing it for the first time was something I won't soon forget. At the same moment I pulled up there was 2 birders from California with Ed Harper from the Montana Bird Records Committee getting out of their cars. All of...