DARE TO BIRD

Check out my new podcast episode with the “Let’s Take This Outside Podcast.” You can listen to it HERE . We talk about my book “Dare to Bird” and about grief and loss and how birding helps with that. You can also click the link below to listen. Also a good news story that featured my photo of the Northern Spotted Owl. You hardly here any good news stories about this species so nice to hear about this family in WA read the story  HERE Also 3 of my photos (Tundra Swan, Hooded Merganser and Bohemian Waxwing) are featured in this new book by Tom Myers for young birders. It’s the perfect gift for any teen or kid birder! Check it out HERE By the way I recently saw a Steller’s Eider in Port Hardy that was my 460th bird species for the province of BC and only the second time I’ve seen a Steller’s Eider ever. I placed a video of it below. Also the 2025 updated edition of my book “ Dare to Bird ” is out you can buy it wherever books are sold or at the publishers website !

We had a great Frontiers in Ornithology Youth Symposium in Seattle WA on Oct 4th! We had amazing youth attendees, and parents and amazing youth and adult speakers. Watching the youth ask questions and engage with the speakers and be so passionate about their future careers was very moving for me. Youth connected with like-minded youth from across North America and made friendships and shared in their passion. The speakers were so diverse that there was something for everyone from how to paint birds to ornithologic and scientific careers and careers in social justice and Indigenous rights and conservation. All of our speakers from Canada and the USA (except for Dennis Paulson who had to leave early :( ) are pictured in the photo below with board members and our amazing keynote Steve Hampton. It was really nice to meet and see Bird field guide book author Cameron Cox come out to volunteer and help us, when he had no children in the event. We had so much excess catered food that the exac...

I am leading a bird walk for the Stanley Park Ecology Society at 9:30 am on Oct 26th. You can sign up HERE Hope to see you there! This program is open to all ages!

We had a great Young Birder Hawk on Sunday with a couple rare hawks! You can read our trip report at the BC Young Birders website HERE Young Birders at the Hawk Watch in West Vancouver 

We had our young birder trip in Delta on August 27th. We went shorebirding in Delta!  You can read about it at the BC Young Birders website HERE Looking forward to our next trip; which is a hawk watch next month Sept 21st ! See you there! Young Birders at Boundary Bay in Delta, BC - Photo: Melissa Hafting

I will be speaking at Word Vancouver about my book “ Dare to Bird ” and discussing birds with 3 other authors with a moderated panel called “For the Love of Birds - Three Authors’ Perspectives.” You can check it out  Sept 20 at 11am at the HSBC Hall at UBC Robson Square at 800 Robson Street in Vancouver. All info on the event can be found here  HERE View this post on Instagram A post shared by Word Vancouver (@wordvancouver)

I co-led a birding trip with Chris Charlesworth to Newfoundland with Avocet Tours in early July.  On July 2nd we met up for dinner in St. John's and the next morning we went to Kent's Pond to look for a reported Tufted Duck and we found a drake at the far end of the pond. There was also a Common Tern flying by and some American Black Ducks.  Tufted Duck in St. John's, NFLD - Photo: Melissa Hafting We then went to Burton's Pond to see the long staying rare Pink-footed Goose. At Burton's Pond we also had a rare for the time of year Eurasian Wigeon drake.      Pink-footed Goose in St. John's - Photo: Melissa Hafting Eurasian Wigeon in St. John's, NL - Photo: Melissa Hafting We then drove towards Cape Pine, on the normally, visually stunning, Irish Loop. Before we reached foggy St. Vincent's we had a Canada Jay and Belted Kingfisher sitting on the wire. After a bathroom break near the famous "Gut" whale viewing site, we continued on towards Cape P...