DARE TO BIRD

I am honoured to be chosen as a judge for the 2022 Audubon Photography Awards. You can read about the full panel of judges HERE . You can read about the prizes to be won and how to enter the contest which runs from Jan 12, 2022 to March 9, 2022 HERE . It is open to anyone 13 and over in Canada and the USA. This year we have a new video category! Plus of course an award for best professional,  amateur, youth and native plants for birds category.  We have a page that answers all your questions about the contest HERE Thank you to the National Audubon Society for asking me to be part of this awesome contest. I look forward to reviewing your entries! This photography contest is only open to ethical photographers, practicing ethical photography (no stressed, flashed or nesting birds) and of course there is no baiting allowed .     On another exciting note, Young Birder Alice Sun, whom I mentored and who graduated from the BC Young Birder Program; has now written an illustrated field guide

Young Birders on the Delta Christmas Bird Count for Youth - Photo: Melissa Hafting Today, I held the Youth CBC in Delta. This year we held the event at Reifel Bird Sanctuary. Thanks to Kathleen Fry for letting us in and for allowing the youth to come in for free. The weather forecast was awful saying it was going to be sleet, heavy rain and wind. Luckily the weather was beautiful, no rain and even some sun! 15 youth turned up and we all had a blast. The kids were all masked and were happy to be socializing with their fellow young birders. We started out with a bang as we saw 2 Black-crowned Night-Herons in the open and a Merlin flying close and fast by our heads! Young Birders looking at 2 adult Black-crowned Night-Herons at Reifel - Photo: M. Hafting Young birders on the East Dyke searching for birds - Photo: Jim Lai Young Birders at Reifel during the CBC 4 Youth - Photos: Jim Lai We walked on and quickly spotted 14 Bohemian Waxwings with 1 Cedar (which allowed for a nice comparison)

Brambling in Revelstoke - Photo: Melissa Hafting After my mom's passing and organizing the funeral and such, I needed a break away. We decided to drive up to Revelstoke on Dec 29th to see my friend Darlene's rare birds that she had in her yard. Darlene Cancelliere had her second Brambling over the years and I had never seen one in BC or anywhere, so off we went!. The only highway open after the flooding was Highway 3, so we had to go the long way to get there. We drove to Princeton, then to Merritt through Kamloops and up to Salmon Arm to Revy. Some of the roads were dicey with ice and compact snow. We counted 16 cars between Vancouver and Revelstoke that were off the road due to ice and a few semis. Luckily we did not run into any problems. The road up was pretty devoid of birds except for a Magpie, Ravens and some Eagles but we did see a Moose. When we got into Revelstoke it was like a winter wonderland. We spent the night at the Swiss Chalet Hotel after a delicious dinner at