Slow Birding is a mindful approach that connects you with birds, the land, and yourself. Bird Diva Bridget Butler showed us how to get to know birds beyond their identification with a focus on finding who’s on the landscape that particular day and sharing our observations as a group in a way that uplifts each participant, no matter their level of knowledge or experience birding.
We enjoyed three outings in Bristol with the Bird Diva:
Friday June 28 on the Coffin Factory Trail
Sunday July 21 on the High School Trail, and
Sunday August 25 at the Business Park trail and a nearby cemetery.
Each outing gave us the opportunity to sit and observe using different prompts that helped us notice and wonder.
Thank you to the Bristol Recreation Club, Inc. and the Vermont Community Foundation SPARK Grants for funding this series, which is also supported by the Lawrence Memorial Library.
Sitting Still
Lily HInrichsen
I notice the singular voice of the river
monosyllabic and even monotonous
while the forested birdsong trills
in and out of the leaves before disappearing
I wonder what birds are saying
when they sing their 2-note 3-note songs
Are they asking a question or making a plea
staking a claim or perhaps announcing
their adoration of another
I wonder if they are talking to me
and that I should pay more attention
dispense of my to-do list worries newsy headlines
and escape into the geophany of their double-larynx symphonies
This reminds me of the little slice of Eden
here by the river this idyllic garden
of veerys and thrushes vireos and ovenbirds
kingfishers and redstarts
this garden of birdsong that I and the birds can call home
(participant in June Slow Birding event)