DARE TO BIRD

*UPDATE WE ARE NOW FULL/SOLD OUT* Hi Young Birders please come join me on a Hike to Blackcomb Mountain in Whistler for ages 11-18 on Sat Oct 1st. Please bring a bagged lunch, water, hat and wear warm layers. Please bring some money for dinner too. We will be looking for Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches, Canada Jays, Pygmy Owl, Clark's Nutcrackers, Townsend's Solitaire, American Pipits, Sooty Grouse, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Horned Lark, Mountain Chickadees and more. We should also see Pika and Hoary Marmots and maybe some Black Bears. There is a fee for this event for transportation from Vancouver (Burrard Skytrain Station at 1088 Melville St) and for the gondola. If you are unable to afford the fee let me know and we will work it out! No one will be turned away. This is a BIPOC and LGBTQ+ friendly event. Everyone is welcome! Email me with any questions and for the pickup, drop off location and fee details.  You can see some of our past Whistler Trips HERE  and  HERE  . As you can see we

If you are struggling with grief and loss like I am, I invite you to check out the amazing and at times heartbreaking new podcast " All There Is " from Anderson Cooper. The first episode just dropped and there will be new episodes every Wednesday . If you have lost anyone you have loved, you will relate. Anderson explains how he is changed forever since he experienced these deaths of those family closest to him. He talks about the isolation you feel when you are suffering when the world keeps on going. The smiling or laughing on the outside while you are really crying on the inside... That is why I love looking at birds they help in so many ways including soothing sadness and pain. Yesterday, I saw my first Broad-winged Hawk for Metro Vancouver and it’s moments like that which help distract me from my sadness. Broad-winged Hawk in West Van - Photo: Melissa Hafting  Anderson chats about how we as society don't talk about grief. This podcast really resonated with me and I

I wanted to share this poem by Christina M. Ward. When I recently saw this Red-necked Phalarope her words resonated with me all the more. Her poem talks about the detrimental impact we humans have on birds, while at the same time having the power to reverse what's happening. If only more would listen.. A World Without Birds I do not want to stand under quiet skies. I want them filled with bird song, the intertwining symphony of life breathing life singing life I do not want silent trees or Silent Springs without the buzzing of hummingbirds or the whisper-flight of wrens. The grass has held worm for robins, warm-breasted and numerous —as far into my memory as I can search. Where are the robins now? I haven’t seen one in so long. The Aves are in decline. I do not want to live in a world without birds. Without the intricacies of color the dapper dancing for mates the delicate strength of wings teaching us to soar above things, to be light as the wind and quick on our feet. How can I s

Yesterday, I was telling Kevin Louth over the phone that I was feeling very sad and was missing my mom so was going to go for a bike ride and see what shorebirds I could find at Boundary Bay. I was hoping to see the Buff-breasted Sandpiper that Kevin and Mike Toochin had found and The Hudsonian Godwit that Rob Lyske had found. So I put my scope on my backpack and took out my new bike that my dad gave me for my birthday and parked at 112th St and biked down the dyke. It was a beautiful day and it was nice to have the wind on my face. I have been missing my mom more than ever this week and feeling the pain of physical heartbreak and wished she was with me. It has been 8 months but feels like yesterday when I lost her. This summer I lead a bird walk at Colony Farm for youth at the Crossroads Hospice Society who lost close family members. One of the teens in the group told me about her mom she also lost to cancer. Her mom was a Veterinarian and an amazing woman. I was inspired by this