By Isaac Lang (newest VAS board member)
Ever since I started birding, I’ve always yearned to find peers who enjoy bird-watching just as much as I do. Upon joining the Wild Bird Society of Tainan, I quickly realized that the majority of birders were retired and their teenage years were long past them. After attending the Cornell Young Birder’s Event, my eyes were truly opened. Not only had I made connections with young birders like myself, meeting people who shared this deep passion of mine was enough to make me determined to find other young birders. Joining the Vancouver Audubon offered me the perfect opportunity – not only was I able to meet plenty of experienced birders who have helped me tremendously on my birding journey, I also joined the Cameraderie and Young Birders group.
Our first Cameraderie group meeting was at Klineline Pond, where Vancouver Audubon (VAS) had hosted an event just the day before promoting bird-watching and conservation. On that particular photography walk, our focus was on ducks and catching them flapping their wings while they preened and bathed. Despite the birds not being particularly notable, and the pictures I took subpar, I was beaming with happiness and hope that I had finally found my people. Since then, the VAS youth ranks have grown. When I expressed the desire to lead the VAS Young Birders group, Ken Pitts was nice enough to jumpstart the process and provide excellent guidance along the way. We have since been to a multitude of different ecosystems and habitats, and seen many unique and wondrous species of birds. We have been to Shillapoo Lake and gotten mind-blowing looks and photographs of Short-eared Owls. We have been to Ridgefield and photographed many delightful and captivating birbs (cute birds).
Just two weeks prior to writing this post, we went to The Dalles Dam to photograph Bald Eagles. The journey to the Dalles Dam was particularly treacherous – we had to endure howling winds all along the Columbia River Gorge. The winds gusted past the car, tugging it left to right, lane to lane. Once we arrived, the gloomy weather proved to be a bad omen, as for the next two hours, not a single Bald Eagle took flight to catch the migrating Shad (a type of fish). Unwilling to admit defeat, we headed over to the Deschutes River Trail in hopes of better birding and photography opportunities. The birding gods graced us with quite a few birds we were looking for, including the endearing pair of wrens – Rock and Canyon Wrens. I had already seen a Canyon Wren in Bend, but the Rock Wren was the first of the year. The Rock Wren is a larger wren with a similar bill, a sand-colored body with a heavily mottled back and tail. We also saw five species of sparrows and a large flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers, and a chattering bunch of Dark-eyed Juncos. The best bird of the day by far was a lone Snow Goose I spotted high up in the clouds. Snow Geese are considered uncommon in the region, so it was a nice find. We were all surprised when we saw another Snow Goose foraging around in the grassy lawn in front of the parking lot. After many photos of it, we slowly inched forward to get better pictures. As the Snow Goose saw a flock of Canada Geese fly by, it lifted its head and flapped up gracefully (despite being a goose), and I didn’t miss the perfect opportunity to photograph it in flight.
I had been looking forward to our most recent bird walk for some time, as it marked the first event held by the VAS Young birders group in several years, which I now lead. Ken (also a board member of VAS) was able to advertise to the entire Vancouver and Evergreen school districts, and we had 8 families who signed up. Our walk was held at Burnt Bridge Creek, and the birds did not disappoint. After introductions and brief assistance with handling binoculars, we started our walk, and were greeted with an assortment of birds including gorgeous Anna’s Hummingbirds, adorable Rudy-crowned Kinglets, and Fox Sparrows. My favorite bird of the day was without a doubt the Great-horned Owl. Someone in our convoy noticed a large murder of crows cawing and flying around. We immediately perked our ears and looked around for the source of the crow’s distress – likely an owl. Sure enough, we found the Great-horned Owl surrounded with crows above, under, and around it, occasionally being dive-bombed by the fearless corvids.
I’m really hopeful that more people will know about the VAS Young Birders and Cameraderie groups, and we will be able to share the joys of birding and the importance of birds to a younger audience (10-18 year olds).
Vancouver Audubon 