Birding brings people together and I’m a guilty party in this match making. I love me some people amid all these birds.

The work of this writer (me!) is decidedly NOT in solitude: I thrive on the interaction with the people who prompt the ideas that I share. Without the people in this birding community there would be no output like what you see from me.

Since starting down this path of loving on and sharing birding culture, I’ve written stories promoting the work of creative bird-curious people, organized local birding outings, spoken on podcasts, currently sit on three different bird conservation-adjacent committees, and now I’ve added public speaking to the list!

This fall and winter I am speaking in my local community about the Be Bird Wise campaign, a communications initiative appealing to visitors to Skagit Valley (a world-class winter birding destination) drawn here by the abundance of wild birds like swans and snow geese to the working agricultural landscape. I write for the Be Bird Wise blog and sit on the committee, and am speaking about the campaign as an interested community member, representing myself.

So far the speaking is going great!

My first event in September was the same night as the first (and only) presidential debate. One responder to my Facebook advert about it said, “Hmm, I guess I could record the cuckoo and hear about birds.” Luckily, there was a good turnout thanks to Skagit Audubon’s robust mailing list and loyal attendees of the speaker series I was kicking off for their 2024/2025 season.

Event number two was this month at my town library. I had a total of (drumroll…) four attendees! Despite the modest turnout it was a highly energized experience with super engaged participants in a beautiful setting of the library’s high-ceilinged, wood paneled meeting room. Great practice for me with a receptive audience, a win.

Upcoming events will be on Zoom, and the event with Pilchuck Audubon in February 2025 will be Zoom, in-person (in Everett) AND recorded! So really, for all of you unable to come to the earlier in-person events, there is no excuse for you to miss either of these future dates, right?

I look forward to seeing you at upcoming speaking engagements, and for those of you who are really intrepid, come see me in Cape May, New Jersey in May 2025, where I will be talking about Bird Friendly comestibles, and participating in a round table with Orietta Estrada and Georgia Silvera Seamans discussing how we Bird Like a Mother.

In the meantime, happy birding this fall and winter!