DARE TO BIRD

I was touched by the words written about me and my book in the current issue of Alberta Views Magazine  distributed inside the Calgary Herald newspaper. Thanks to Jenna Butler author of Revery: A Year of Bees . You can check it out below:

I wanted to thank BC Nature and Birds Canada for sponsoring the boat trip the young birders and I did this past weekend on the adult Ladner CBC with White Rock Sea Tours. Despite us all getting completely soaked, the youth were really troopers. It was sunny but way too rough out there we did see one Humpback out there. Thanks to all the hardy youth who came out and made the day special. We finished the day with hot chocolate at the local cafe where the barista almost had a heart attack when I ordered 12 large hot chocolates with 12 sodden children and a huge lineup behind me!  I want to thank you kiddos for making the day bright even when you were all shivering. It’s you kids that really help me to get through this very difficult time of the year as we approach the anniversary of my mother’s death on Christmas Eve and a second Christmas without my dad and a third without my mother. It’s you, the youth who really have helped me to get out the door showing you birds and getting to kn...

I was honoured to see that the Associated Press has featured and recommended my book under the Coffee Table Books section in their 2024 Holiday Gift Guide! You can check it out at the link  HERE Thanks from the bottom of my heart to everyone who has read my book and an extra special thanks to those who have bought my book as a gift for friends and family this holiday season. It really means the world to me and I’m truly honoured you wanted to share it with others and have them read it! View this post on Instagram A post shared by Rocky Mountain Books (@rm_books)

I was a guest on the Local Nature Lab’s podcast called “Bird Story” you can listen to the episode “Melissa Hafting Gives Back To The Birds”  HERE . It was a real honour to talk with Georgia and I really enjoyed our conversation.

I am leading a trip to Point Pelee this May 12-18/2024 with Avocet Tours!  The trip is confirmed and we have already enough people to go but there are still a few spots available for anyone who wants to join us! You can read more about the tour and register HERE Also I’m co-leading the Newfoundland Tour in July with Chris Charlesworth you can also book that confirmed tour HERE

7/8 Young Birders at the Christmas Bird Count For Youth - Photo: Melissa Hafting We had a great CBC 4 Youth at Reifel on the weekend. It was pouring rain in the beginning so we had a few cancellations but 8 hardy youth still turned up and then the sun came out midday which was lovely. You can read our full trip report HERE at the BC Young Birders website. Next weekend I will see all who registered for the Boundary Bay boat trip for the Delta Christmas Adult Bird Count (sponsored by Birds Canada and BC Nature). Unfortunately, like I often do I forget to take the group photo until the end and we missed one birder Markus from the photo who had to leave early for volleyball.

I will be leading a bird walk and moderating at the Decolonizing Ornithology Symposium being held at Maplewood Flats in North Van on Nov 30th from 9am until 4pm. It is being put on by the Wild Bird Trust and speakers will be Steve Hampton (Indigenous expert birder and  member of the American Ornithological Society’s Committee for English Bird Names) and Jordan Rutter (co-founder of the Birds Names for Birds movement to replace eponymous bird names). Also Tykee James a Black birder who works hard to make birding more inclusive. He wears many hats in his activism work and he is also the founder of the Freedom Birders project . There will also be local Indigenous birders and naturalists as well who  will be speaking. It is so important to have so many Indigenous voices talking about these issues and hearing how they have been affected. It is a blessing to be having the Indigenous knowledge perspective and learning about ways in which we can work together to make everyone feel wel...

It was nice to see my book “ Dare to Bird ” prominently featured in an advertisement for Buteo Books in the American Birding Association’s Birding Magazine. My book will be reviewed in the upcoming December 2024 Birding issue and I’m honoured to have the feature and cover story in 2025 but more on that huge honour later. The book is available for purchase in hardcover or ebook wherever books are sold and free to rent in all major libraries.

Please sign up for our annual Christmas Bird Count for Youth on Dec 7th! This event is open to youth aged 12-18 and runs from 9:30 am until 2:30pm and is FREE . All info is also posted on the events page of the BC Young Birders Program website . Please register for tickets HERE   This event is BIPOC and LGBTQ+ inclusive.

I am leading a BIPOC birding walk for the Stanley Park Ecology Society at 9:30 am on Dec 1st at Reifel Bird Sanctuary in Delta. This is open to all ages and is FREE. Binoculars will be provided for those who don't have them. Please sign up for a ticket HERE Thank you to the  Canadian Race Relations Foundation’s National Anti-Racism Fund for funding this event and allowing it to be barrier free for all. *This event is now FULL*

I was honoured to be a made a mentor for the American Birding Association (ABA) Young Birder of the Year (YBY) Mentoring Program. You can read more about the panel of mentors  HERE  and the YBY mentorship program  HERE !

I was a guest on the Bird Banter Podcast with Ed Pullen and you can listen to it below and HERE

13 youth came out on the Young Birder Trip to Reifel. We had 81 species! I have never seen that many species in one visit at the park! It was a great day for fall migration. We found our own Great Egret and saw many good birds. You can read the full trip report  HERE  at the BC Young Birders website Thank you to all the youth who came out! It was so much fun! Young Birders at Reifel Bird Sanctuary - Photo: Melissa Hafting

I was honoured to be featured in the new edition of The Wild Bird Trust's Wingspan Magazine. You can read the interview about my new book and work with young birders HERE Nice to see a photo from our recent Young Birder Trip on Aug 10th to Maplewood Flats featured too!

Young Birders attending the Female Nat Geo/Girls Who Click Photo Workshop in Vancouver This weekend we had a fun Young Birder-filled weekend! On Saturday we met up at Maplewood Flats and had a nice walk around the park. We saw 55 species including a fully leucistic Short-billed Gull, Chipping Sparrow and Evening Grosbeaks. A full list of species can be found HERE and our full report at the BC Young Birders website HERE . Young Birders at Maplewood Flats - Photo: Melissa Hafting On Sunday I took part in and co-led a National Geographic and Girls Who Click photo workshop for Female identifying Young Birder/Wildlife photographers for ages 13-18 year olds. I co-led with National Geographic Explorer photographer Gunjan Menon. Gunjan made a famous film on Red Pandas and she discussed her ethical approach to conservation and wildlife photography and taught the girls how to most effectively use their cameras; which was very helpful. The field is mostly male dominated and that is why Gunjan c...

I was honoured to be featured in an interview for Canadian Geographic magazine. You can read the full story HERE

The National Audubon Society interviewed me and did an article about my book. You can read it HERE

On Aug 11-2024, talented National Geographic and Girls Who Click photographer and filmmaker  Gunjan Menon and I are hosting a photo workshop for female identifying or non-binary teen bird/wildlife photographers who are age 13-18 years old. We will be doing a bird walk and give the teens an introduction to conservation photography and storytelling. I will also be giving the girls a talk on local birds. The event is FREE, so there are no barriers to entry for any participants. However, spots are limited so sign up ASAP if you are interested! We will be running this at Stanley Park from 9 am until 2pm. For safety reasons the exact location will be given out directly to you upon registration. Also, if you don't have a camera or smart phone to photograph the wildlife with us, during the workshop, there will be cameras that the youth can use during the outdoor workshop! You can sign up and read more about this event HERE Make sure that your parents fill out the 3 attached waivers at t...

I was honoured to be on the American Birding Association's " American Birding Podcast , " for the second time today, discussing my book " Dare to Bird " with host Nate Swick. You can listen to the interview in full HERE   or below: By the way you can read all about the checklist changes put out today by the ABA. Some birders may be sad to know they have lost the Hoary Redpoll which has been lumped with Common Redpoll and the new species is simply called Redpoll. Read all the changes HERE

Check out the most recent trip report of the Young Birders trip to Pitt Lake. You can read the great time they had at the BC Young Birders Website HERE Beautiful Grant Narrows, where the youth had their field trip, in Pitt Meadows - Photo: Raymond Liu

I was honoured to do an interview with my friends Alvaro Jaramillo and Mollee Brown on their podcast called “ Life List - A Birding Podcast.” Alvaro used to live in Vancouver and Mollee is a female bird guide and avid birder like myself and we discuss birding from a female perspective as well. We talk about my book and the young birders and everything in between. I was really touched by the words Alvaro in particular said about me.  You can listen to the one hour episode called  “ Intersections of science, art, and passion in birding” HERE   or any other podcast platform. Thanks again to Mollee and Alvaro for having me on.

Today I saw my book in Canada’s biggest bookstore for the first time! Young birder program graduate Josh Brown sent me a photo of himself with my book at Chapters so I decided to finally check it out for myself. I was delaying visiting the bookstore because I knew it would be bittersweet. When I saw my book for the first time on the shelf, the feeling was incredibly special but also tinged with sadness. I walked into Indigo Bookstore on Robson Street in Vancouver today and saw my book on the shelf beside Kaufman and Sibley in the “Birds” section. It felt so surreal and was a real special moment. I wanted to pick up the phone and call my dad or better yet I wished that he was standing beside me. What a bittersweet moment. He so wanted to see this book and how proud he would have been to see my book on the shelf. Another day of carrying both joy and grief. I’m really proud of this accomplishment but also sad both my parents can’t be around for this but it is just another milestone they s...

I was honoured to find out that my book Dare to Bird made the BC Best Seller List and in the top ten too! I’m blown away by all the support for this book and am so touched that so many people like the book and find it resonating with them! You can see the BC Best Seller List in full HERE   and in the Vancouver Sun HERE Indigo and Amazon both sold out of the book and Amazon became back ordered. In fact Indigo sold out twice but just restocked it again and are offering 10x the points for Canadian Books like mine if you buy the book from them online . The book is also available in most local bookstores (thanks to all of them for carrying it) and for free to loan at almost all local libraries. It was nice to see that there are many holds on the copies! The book is also available as an e-book which came out June 24th. Thanks to all the folks sending me pics of them with the book. Also thanks to the young birders who went to the bookstore Upstart and Crow on Granville Island to buy the...

You can read the most recent Young Birder Trip to Cypress at the BC Young Birders website HERE The youth had a great time! Thanks to young birder program graduate Evan Larson for writing up the report and for his help leading the youth on this trip! Young Birders on Cypress Mountain in West Vancouver - Photo: Evan Larson

Check out my Q & A interview feature in the Narwhal! You can read the story in full at the link HERE Thanks to Michelle Cyca for the in-depth interview.

I was really touched by the beautiful words that Kate Dalgleish from Birds Canada wrote about my newly released book " Dare to Bird " calling it "A masterpiece of beauty and conservation." You can read the book review in full at the link HERE Photo: by Steve Owst

Today is publication day and my book is officially out! Check out this video my friend Max made of the book he bought in a local Quebec City bookstore. I  have to say it looks pretty sharp no? Also my friend in the UK sent me photos of a review of my book, along with a photo of a Veery that I took in Peachland, BC in Outdoor Photography Magazine ! I was truly honoured to see it there.

Liron Gertsman submitted a review of my book to BC Nature Magazine. You can read the review of the book below in the 2024 summer edition. Thank you Liron for such kind words! I also received a beautiful editorial review from my friend Cameron Eckert, which I’ve attached below as well! Thanks Cam! The book is released worldwide on June 18, 2024.