It’s easy to feel overwhelmed these days with all the chaos in the news. Fires, floods, drought, countries bombing one another, earthquakes, landslides, persons going berserk, the list goes on and on.
So, I made sure to sign up for a bird-watch walk sponsored by our excellent Squamish Public Library.
Though not a birder, I do enjoy hearing morning chirps and trills, and with binoculars in hand, welcomed the opportunity to stroll through the paths of our treasured estuary, and focus on the more positive sides of nature.
Bird watching is a great way to be mindful, and quiet, and practice patience. I like to use the phrase Stop, Listen, Look. One hears a birdsong, the rustle of leaves, and with the eyes of a detective, looks for clues, the sway of a branch, a glimpse of colour, followed by the triumph of detection and the gratifying search and naming of a species.
There is a sense of joy when you tune and zoom in through the camouflage, to see a bird grooming itself in the foliage, hop from a branch, then soar against a background of blue sky.
Tiffany Brunke, a director with the Squamish Environment Society, (SES), and education and outreach naturalist with the Squamish River Watershed Society, was our guide. As co-ordinator of the Purple Martin Nest Box Project and the Bird Friendly Squamish Project, one has the assurance that the conservation of our feathered friends is well in hand.
In terms of plants, Brunke noted that she was happy to see Henderson checker mallows growing as it had been a species of concern, but saddened that the invasive purple loosestrife, taking over Squamish, is now growing in the estuary.
Twenty-four bird species were identified in the few hours of our walk.
For potential birders, the SES organizes a monthly bird count and currently meets in the lobby of the Howe Sound Brew Pub, the second Sunday of each month at 7 a.m.
There is also Sea-to-Sky Birders Facebook page.
One can borrow binoculars (binos) from the library, which also has tons of bird ID books.
My aunt Stella was a fan of the steller’s jay, which is the B.C. provincial bird. After her passing, I was comforted to have a steller’s jay perch beside me on a fence for a precious moment before flying off.
I would like to share a poem by Victor Hugo given to me by a friend when times were tough.
"Be like the bird who, pausing in her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings, knowing she hath wings."
But then, my thoughts returned to this: with the over-development and destruction of construction in this town, except for the naturalists, is anyone concerned over the plight of birds?
Melody Wales is a veteran Squamish writer.
