January 11 @ 9:30 am – 11:30 am PST
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IN-PERSON PROGRAM
Led by Melissa Hafting, this free birding program will introduce you to the winter residents of Blackie Spit in Surrey, keeping eyes and ears tuned to find a wide range of birds, such as wigeons, surf scoters, trumpeter swans, shore birds, and more! Get out in nature in the new year and spend time in community during this Birding with Me walk. This event welcomes BIPOC nature enjoyers of all skill levels, including complete beginner birders, as well as participants of all ages. No experience necessary, and participants will be able to borrow binoculars.
This event is reserved specifically for BIPOC individuals, in order to provide a safe and inclusive space to explore birding and nature.
LEADER BIO
Melissa Hafting founded the BC Young Birders Program in 2014. The successful program was founded on the principle that anyone was welcome no matter their gender, sexual orientation or race. Melissa believes in making birding accessible for everyone and has worked hard to make birding more diverse and equitable in her community. She has a strong passion for birding and loves to travel to see different birds around the world. Melissa is an eBird reviewer for the province and believes there is still much work to be done to ensure birding and environmental spaces are truly diverse and safe for all. She is also passionate about seeing more women and women of colour in this field. Melissa is a conservationist who is passionate about educating about the plights birds face such as habitat loss, degradation, and climate change. She has fought for many environmental concerns in her community and province and has made a successful Tree Swallow and Purple Martin nest box program in the city of Richmond. She is an ecologist who was featured on the CBC documentary “Rare Bird Alert” and last year she finished her first book Dare To Bird which is available now. She is the recipient of BC Nature’s Daphne Solecki Award for her work with youth and was an adult finalist for the Canadian Museum of Nature’s 2021 Nature Inspiration Awards. Melissa currently runs the Rare Bird Alert website.
ABOUT “BIRDING WITH ME” SERIES
Come Birding with Me and learn about our local birds on free, guided bird walks that celebrate diversity in bird and human communities. Inspired by the National Audubon Society’s Let’s Go Birding Together series, Birding with Me walks welcome in experts and participants of shared identity to explore birding together and meet new people.
PROGRAM DETAILS
Accessibility notes: This program will move at a gentle-moderate pace on a level path around Blackie Spit, on concrete, wooden boardwalk, and possibly packed dirt trails. If you have any questions or input about accessibility, please email publiced@stanleyparkecology.ca
This program will meet at the Public Washrooms at Blackie Spit in Surrey: https://maps.app.goo.gl/6pwKsugBGVFFW77j8. Please arrive 5-10 minutes early to sign in.
Terms and Conditions
(1) Registration required - NO DROP-INS ARE ALLOWED. This program is free! If you register and no longer can make it, please email us at publiced@stanleyparkecology.ca so we can offer the space to another participant.
(2) Weather – Our tours typically run rain or shine. Rarely, programs may be postponed or cancelled due extreme weather like high winds or extreme heat. We will alert you by email if the program needs to be rescheduled.
The land on which we gather is the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Peoples. Their stewardship and respect for this land has carried forward for thousands of years long before settlers named it “Stanley Park”.