I've actually seen a Mississippi Kite go after an anole in my yard once and
I was shocked, like floored when I saw it, and was like, is that a thing?
But yeah, insects, and they'll catch them in air and eat them in the air. Like, OK!
It started literally just as a group meet and people would just add their friends who were
in STEM and Black, and it just grew into a kind of like a group of everybody
and we'll just talk about whatever, it's like a safe space, and we had a lot of fun, and then the
Christian Cooper situation happened, and of course it was just a topic of discussion at the time
but someone, Anna to be specific, she was like "Yo, we should do we should do like a day"—I think it
started out as a day to commemorate, or just showcase, that Black people are outdoors and we do bird.
There was a lot to say, and a lot to do and talk about, and we couldn't fit that all into
one day. So we made it a week and we really just wanted everybody to know what Black birders,
or, you know, other naturalists in the field face just trying to be outside when really we're
just trying to either do work or just enjoy the outdoors, like everybody has a right to.
I honestly was just so pleasantly surprised of just how many other fellow Black biologists and birders and
nature enthusiasts there were out there! I absolutely loved it.
Jumping into plan this year again was a no-brainer. It's like, last year it meant
so much to a lot of people including myself, and we saw the the reach that it had and how much
people loved participating, Black people loved participating or seeing people like themselves.
So, we wanted to bring that to everybody again. This year we wanted to shift
the focus more towards Black joy in nature. We really focused on the people that were doing the
work, the people that were on the ground. We had a lot of Fish and Wildlife Service personnel like
Dr. Mamie Parker. There's people that have been in it forever, and we really want to show that
there have been people doing this before us, like we're not the only ones, and we're not the first ones.
The Falconer movie, Falconer film, was so good! Oh my gosh! We were watching it and
I'm pretty sure I said verbatim, like, "This is one of the best movies that I've seen in a while."
And that speaks to the actual directors and the, you know, the behind the scenes team, but also
you know, Rodneys [story] was just very moving, and really related with it, so, that was my favorite.
I want to say there's a few, but the one that stood out to me was the Safety in Nature.
Just like having actual, you know, people, Black people, specifically Black women, studying the subject
and giving time and space to that conversation, that's, I mean, I feel like we talk about it a lot,
but, like, actually seeing the research, the numbers, the dialogue, the shared experiences,
really put it in perspective of how much of an issue it still is, and to be able to
like really hone in on it from a Black perspective was refreshing.
I think On Their Wings maybe, I just liked hearing from people who have been a naturalist, or a birder
for a really long time, how they got into it, why they got into it.
I definitely like the Birds on My Block event because I finally got the chance to like,
blab all the nerdy bird app knowledge that I have and I've been meaning to, like, share with folks.
So that was really cool. I think I would definitely want to do that again.
I really liked Bri's—Brianna Amingwa's—she did how to make, how to bring birds to your
backyard, and gave some tips on like your setup and having water features, and all that, native species.
so hers was really good too! They're just, everybody really just showed out, OK? It was great!
There's all of these groups, which is great. They're still
very much predominantly white, but at the same time, knowing that you can connect with
somebody in your neighborhood and on your block and say, hey, let's go for a bird hike,
or come together to put like an event, or a cookout, or something, so it's just like, OK,
these are my people. And it doesn't feel like this, you know, you're hiding a part
of yourself to actually enjoy those things, so I definitely want to see more of that.
But yeah, so I think a conference would be super cool because we started a movement in a pandemic, so
it was all on social media, and a lot of the organizers ourselves, like we've never like met in person, a lot of us.
I would also love for us to like be able to use that leverage and use that
opportunity to share and distribute resources to people all over the place, especially in the form
of making outdoor activities more accessible to Black people basically. Reaching out to
younger birders and naturalists and encouraging them to to join in and be a part
of this field, because we are we are doing this for the future generation as well—raising these
issues so that they don't have to face any of them.
I feel like I really would just love to see anyone who is interested in nature at all or science at all, being able to find this network, and being involved
in any capacity, like if you want to attend events or just simply take some pictures and post
on social media. And be like "yeah, look at me I'm just enjoying my Black self in nature."
This one is still trying, it's still trying to get on those tube feeders,
and those tube feeders are actually too small for it usually to get onto, like I mentioned earlier.
So if you're trying to keep doves away, tube feeders. As I say that... That's really good to know, right? (laughs)