What is conservation in birding? How can you contribute to bird conservation locally? Join Dexter and Jason as they explore how to find bird joy while contributing to conservation. You don’t need to be a tenured PhD in Ornithology to contribute to conservation locally. There are several local opportunities to participate, such as those offered by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Seek and join the conversations in your local municipalities, counties, and communities. Those likely lead to laws that impact habitat and access to green space. It’s a good way to stay engaged. Other initiatives like Homegrown National Park give you the pathway to contributing habitat for birds, bugs, plants, and other types of wildlife.

Whether it’s American Kestrel Banding, Monarch Butterfly plantings, Bluebird Box Monitoring, or monitoring the homies coming to your patch feeders, there are multitudes of opportunities out there to get involved.

Who knows where this might lead you? You could end up learning why Large Billed Terns are showing up in Florida or contributing data to Brown Booby migration patterns. You may even get lucky enough to count gulls in a trash dump one winter.

You don’t need to do it all. Stay within your means and understand that every little bit matters.

Be sure to follow our podcast on Instagram at @thebirdjoypod and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin

In Color Birding Club

This episode is dedicated to all of our listeners and supporters. Dexter and Jason recap an amazing spring, including Black Birders Week 2024! They get in and out of our amazing bird moments, which include finding a Blackburnian warbler in Central Park with Indigo-Goodson Fields and Emmy winner Christian Cooper. This included a trip to Queens to find Piping Plovers with the NYC Plover Project, culminating in a Black Excellence in Birding Gala! Dexter describes what it was like to bird in Madison with the founder of Black in NPS Week, Ms. Nicole Jackson! They cover key moments like Dexter's amazing spring getting onto his first American Avocets and the long-awaited nemesis bird, the Cerulean Warbler! It is incredibly evident that birding is for EVERYONE in this episode… including babies in diapers! Rounding out with stories of the homies hanging with Golden Eagles and Peregrine Falcons from the Hoo’s Woods Raptor Center. Heading into Juneteenth, they discuss their week and summer plans. Overall, this episode is meant to BE A CELEBRATION OF THIS COMMUNITY. Thank our listeners for their journey thus far. The community is growing because of you all!! Please continue spreading Bird Joy where you can, and keep listening! Huge shoutout to Black AF In Stem for another great year!

#Birding #BirdJoy #TheBirdJoyPod #Joy #Community #Smile #Birds

Be sure to follow our podcast on Instagram at @thebirdjoypod and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin

In Color Birding Club

Join Dexter and Jason as they delve into the mental health benefits of birding. Even when you have to wake up at 4 am to see Greater Prairie Chickens in freezing cold weather, there is still an immense health benefit. Those moments when you can commune with and observe nature provide joy, anxiety reduction, stress reduction, happiness, and perspective. Sometimes we forget that birding presents challenges through adventure and pursuit of birds. The payoff for finally seeing the bird is a rush of endorphins. Additionally, the journey to the bird is just as valuable as seeing the bird.

We are inspired by mindful birders like Tammah Watts (author of Keep Looking Up: Your Guide to the Powerful Healing of Birdwatching). Do you check your mental state before and after you bird? Did you know that birding can be used to deal with grief? Do you ever feel like you’ve gotten physical exercise while birding? Do you feel better when you help other birders see birds?

Humans are social beings, and we built ways of interpreting the world through nature. We evolved within it, so it’s not surprising that nature directly connects to our mental health. Our brain was wired to pay attention to it. Watching birds survive also affects how we move forward in life. The struggle to provide for our families isn’t limited to humans; birds do the same. It’s important to try and connect with that. Like the small but powerful Blackpoll Warbler who travels thousands of miles and blesses us with its song for a few moments on its journey, we can take inspiration from its success.

Don’t shortchange the community connections and the support systems developed with those friendships. Those connections are also important for maintaining your mental health. This includes the proper use of your social media outlets. Have you adjusted your social media algorithms to show you bird joy and a positive bird community? One day, you never know, you may end up birding with your favorite homies and looking at Roseate Spoonbills!

Get out there and find some Bird Joy!

Be sure to follow our podcast on Instagram at @thebirdjoypod and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin

In Color Birding Club