American Birding Association "Birding" Magazine Feature and Merry Christmas!

I was featured in the December 2020 issue of the American Birding Association's Birding magazine. In an article called "Birding Close to Home - Essays from across the ABA Area." I have posted the article below but it is also available online.  

A few more updates: A photo I took of a female Pileated Woodpecker will be featured in an article about urban Pileateds in the upcoming ABA Birding issue. Plus a photo I took of the Powell River Red-backed Shrike will be featured in Birdwatching Magazine and a podcast I did with Birding Tools will come out soon. In addition a interview I did with Audubon Magazine will come out in the spring but more on all of this later.

My essay featured in Birding magazine by the American Birding Association 


Most importantly I want to end this year by wishing all my readers a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 2021 cannot come fast enough in my opinion. What a strange year this has been. It will be surreal to see no people in Times Square on NYE. We have got through worse things in history and we will get through this as well. This year has taught us to never lose hope or to stop fighting for what is right. All we have to do to remind us of that is to look to the USA, where they will no longer have Trump as President. 

In the meantime though, daily life in this COVID-19 pandemic has been a struggle. Some have lost jobs and finances, felt isolated and depressed, lost friends and loved ones to the virus or got sick themselves. We have had to make sacrifices in all sorts of fashions from no travelling to exotic destinations or in our own province to twitch birds, to wearing masks, missing out on important events, religious gatherings and not being able to hug our friends or family that don't live with us. It has not been easy. We are resilient and should give ourselves ample self-care in this time.

I wanted to share this cute couple dressed up like Santa and Mrs. Clause on the Boundary Bay Dyke with their miniature horses and they brought a smile to my face. I hope they bring one to yours as well.

Santa and Mrs. Clause in Delta - iPhone Photos by Melissa Hafting

I want to say thanks to my friends for all the fun socially-distanced times we did share in 2020 (before the provincial health orders went in) especially around some cool rarity twitches and the biggest "thanks" of course goes to the birds. Without them this year would have been unimaginable for many of us. This pandemic has clearly reaffirmed one thing... we must preserve birds, habitat and biodiversity, not only for the sake of the birds but for ourselves as well.

Merry Christmas from me to you! - Photo of a Northern Pygmy-Owl - Melissa Hafting

A beautiful animated version of a Christmas Classic by the Chairman of the Board will close this post out.

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