DARE TO BIRD

We had our annual Christmas Bird Count for Youth on Dec 6th we had a great count. You can read our trip report at the BC Young Birders website  HERE . Young Birders in Delta for the Christmas Bird Count for Youth - Photo: Kris Cu

Update this event is now FULL We are having our annual Christmas Bird Count for Youth on Dec 6th. Full details are posted as well on the BC Young Birders website HERE We will meet at Reifel Bird Sanctuary at 9 am and we will finish at 2pm. Entrance is free for youth attending. Come look for winter birds like Redpolls, American Tree Sparrows, Northern Saw-whet Owls, Short-eared Owls and Rough-legged Hawks and other great birds at our CBC4Kids in Delta. All data we collect from our count will be sent to eBird and Bird Studies Canada to aid in studies for bird conservation. The Christmas Bird Count for Kids (CBC4Kids), based on the traditional Christmas Bird Count, is a fun winter birdwatching event that engages youth in real Citizen Science. The goal is to promote nature appreciation, ecological literacy, build bird ID and monitoring skills, and environmental stewardship in the next generation of naturalists. More info on the program can be found here : Please bring binoculars, a toque, ...

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

We had a great field trip to Manning Park on July 20th. You can read all about our trip at the BC Young Birders website HERE Thanks to all the youth who came out and made it special and to all the parents who drove their children and let them participate! It was a great day! Young Birders at Manning Park 

We had a great young birder trip to Grant Narrows in Pitt Meadows. We found our own Least Flycatcher and had many Gray Catbirds, American Redstarts, Eastern Kingbirds and more! You can read it about it at the BC Young Birders website HERE Young Birders at Grant Narrows in Pitt Meadows, BC - Photo: Melissa Hafting

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...

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.

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 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 !

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

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...

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

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

*THIS EVENT IS NOW FULL* Hi Young Birders the next Young Birder Trip is posted on the new website. It will be June 22! You can read all details HERE https://www.bcyoungbirders.ca/upcoming-trips-events/ Make sure you email me at bcbirdergirl@gmail.com to let me know if you are coming as your parents must sign a waiver. You will not be permitted to come on the trip without this waiver. Make sure to subscribe to the new website https://www.bcyoungbirders.ca by putting your email in the follow.it box at the bottom of the website to get updates! This is a FREE and BIPOC and LGBTQ+ inclusive event . Northern Pygmy-Owl in south-coastal BC - Photo: Melissa Hafting

Many of the young birders in my program have been asking me to make a website for years. Since I started the program in 2014 I have been using my blog to post my trip reports and events but I really should have done this earlier. Young Birder Program graduate Alice Sun who now works for Audubon in NYC who is also a graphic designer stepped up and helped me to create the website. I took input from the interested young birders and showcase photos from our trips, all our past trip reports and I will post new events at the website. We also have a press section for the many times that young birders or the program was featured in the press. There is also a donation page to help out youth who can’t afford field trips. Thanks to all the youth who were eager to see this website come to fruition. Big special thanks to Alice Sun for helping create this website! You did a beautiful job . Also want to send my thanks also to Liron Gertsman, Josh Brown and Bridget Spencer for giving their helpful inp...

Taking Flight: Greater Vancouver Bird Celebration Opening Event On May 10th during the Greater Vancouver Bird Celebration 's opening night, at the Taking Flight Event; they will be screening the 2023 film "The Young Birders" featuring myself and some of the BC Young Birders in a documentary created by former young birder program graduate and talented photographer Liron Gertsman. They will also be screening 2 other films "The Commute" and "Ptarmigan Trek" produced by Liron Gertsman that night. Also Dr. Rob Butler (ornithologist) will be giving a talk on birds! You can register for free tickets and learn more at the link HERE The event runs from 5pm until 8pm on May 10th, 2024 at Vandusen Gardens. Hope to see many young birders coming out for this event! You can read about all the great events taking place during May 10-26 for the Vancouver Bird Celebration HERE

It is so nice to see 4 young birders in my BC Young Birders program, featured in the new book “Get Outside! - How Humans Connect With Nature” by Leah Payne. Leah approached me after interviewing me for Alive Magazine to see if 4 young birders wanted to be featured in her new book about this important topic. Anica, Clay, Harry and Lukas were keen to be part of it! It is nice to see the youth featured in this book which is geared for youth that are 12-15 years old.  Here is a summary of the book:  “Get Outside! How Humans Connect with Nature  explores the important relationship between people and nature. It asks big questions, like Are humans part of nature or separate from it? and Do all people have equal access to nature? By discussing global issues such as the climate crisis and environmental racism, the book shows us that, by strengthening our relationship with the natural world, we can learn how to take care of the environment and to let the environment take care of u...

We had a great Young Birders CBC yesterday. This year BC Nature and Birds Canada (in particular would like to thank Yousif Attia who helped incorporate our count with the Ladner CBC) generously sponsored us to go on a boat by White Rock Sea Tours and survey the birds from water. They covered the cost for all the youth and me! Thank you so much for doing this! The young birders were thrilled and excited. We met up at Crescent Beach Marina and dressed up in our fashionable survival suits and headed out on the water just after 8:30 am. Thanks to the captain and crew who were so kind to the youth and I and provided us with the most comfy zodiacs I have ever ridden on! Young Birders before boarding the boat in Surrey, BC - Photo: Melissa Hafting Rosie Yeon caught me explaining the safety briefing and plan to the youth before the count! Young Birders in the boat heading out near Blackie Spit Park in Surrey - Photo: Melissa Hafting As we headed out on the water past Blackie Spit, the youth t...