DARE TO BIRD

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...