Welcome Herons on the Spring Equinox
Date: March 21 @ 9:30 – 11:30 am
Location: Pig’s Eye Chokan Tanka Park, 2165 Pigs Eye Lake Road, St. Paul 55119
Come celebrate the return of Herons at Pigs Eye.
INFORMATION: Bring binoculars, a camera phone, a field guide, a sketch pad & pencil, if you can. We will have loaner binoculars and field guides available. Dress for the weather: hats, mittens, a scarf, and waterproof snow boots are advised. The closest facility is a porta-potty at the nearby Wood Chipper operation.
DIRECTIONS: If you are coming to this park for the first time, please reach out to the trip leaders for more detailed instructions. The Warner Road / Childs Lake Road / Pigs Eye Lake Road intersections are a bit challenging. Meet in the parking lot at the far end of the entrance road from the sign Pig’s Eye Chôkan Tanka Park.
REGISTRATION: None
ACCESSIBILITY: We will be walking on a snow-packed trail for a mile in and a mile out. The trail is fairly flat, with slow dip in grade on the approach to and from the concrete bridge over the creek. The trail may be icy depending on weather conditions.
LEADERS: Kiki Sonnen kikisonnen@gmail.com
And Kathy Sidles kesid@aol.com
Photo – Audubon Library Jerry Waters
Rebecca Heisman – Surprising Secrets of Bird Biology – Recording Available
** Co-Sponsored with Land of Lakes Bird Alliance **
Click Here to View Recording
Because they’re warm-blooded, it’s easy to imagine that birds are basically feathery versions of mammals—but in reality, of course, they’re dinosaurs. Birds’ anatomy and physiology are wildly different from ours.
Rebecca Heisman promises that you’ll learn at least one new and surprising fact in this talk (probably more than one!) as we take a whirlwind tour of what birds are, where they came from, and how they breathe, fly, sing, sense the world around them, and more. It’s the ornithology course you never got to take in college, condensed into a single entertaining hour. It will share facts and stories about bird respiration, flight, song, and senses that many birders aren’t familiar with.
Rebecca Heisman is a science writer based in eastern Washington who loves “nerding” out about birds. She has contributed to publications like Audubon Magazine, Living Bird, and Bird Conservation. From 2015 to 2020, she worked for the American Ornithological Society, the world’s largest professional organization for bird scientists. Initially, as an independent contractor helping to promote research published in AOS’s scientific journals and later as its first full-time communications staffer, Heisman brought bird science to a broader scientific community and the public. There, she became deeply familiar with the North American ornithological community and grew excited about the diverse and fascinating methods for studying birds.
To learn more about Rebecca’s work, check out these sources:
https://rebeccaheisman.com/, https://rebeccaheisman.substack.com
Tammah Watts – Program – Recording Available
** Co-Sponsored with Land of Lakes Bird Alliance **
Registration Link and Zoom Meeting Info
Birds are beautiful, funny, mystical, and enduring, just like we are. Like them, we come in varying colors, shapes, and sizes and it is our differences and what we have in common that serve as our greatest strengths. -Tammah Watts
Join Tammah Watts as she weaves together personal story and avian life to reveal the marvelous phenomenon shared among us. This interactive presentation invites the audience to become acquainted, or perhaps re-acquainted, with the many benefits one experiences connecting with our feathered friends at home, in the community, and beyond.
Learn about and explore:
- the many benefits of spending time in nature, and in particular with birds, for one’s physical and mental health, and overall well-being
- how spending time with birds in a mindful way can deepen one’s appreciation for our feathered friends as well as enhance our connection to the natural world, and to ourselves
- ways to develop heightened awareness and acceptance for birding in various settings and capacities from at home to far distant lands and,
- how one’s story about life and birds can foster a sense of community that honors what we have in common as well as celebrates our differences
Experience birds in a whole new way wherever you are and whenever you wish- all you have to do is look up, take notice, and open your heart and mind.
Tammah Watts (she/her), is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), Certified Kripalu Mindful Outdoor Guide, California Naturalist, birder, and advocate for equitable access to nature, health, and mental wellbeing.
KEEP LOOKING UP: Your Guide to the Powerful Healing of Birdwatching, (Hay House), is her first book–a narrative memoir and guidebook with contemplative exercises– that chronicles her journey towards healing by meaningfully connecting with birds.
Tammah serves on regional and national boards dedicated to conservation and environmental stewardship including Audubon CA, San Diego Bird Alliance and Cornell Lab of Ornithology Project FeederWatch + DISES Dayer Lab Project.
She is an Associate Licensed Mental Health Counselor at a local college where she supports student mental health and personal development across the lifespan and integrates mindfulness and nature therapy.
Tammah is passionate about collaborating with diverse groups and organizations to advance environmental, social and intergenerational justice, amplify community belonging, and foster healing connections between people and the natural world.
Her work and perspective have been featured in a variety of media outlets, including The New York Times, Therapy for Black Girls, Ray Brown’s Talkin’ Birds, Washington Post, The Bird Joy Podcast, and Psychology Today and has included being a speaker for Biggest Week In American Birding, Birdability Week, San Diego Bird Festival, Black Birders Week and Wild Bird Feeding Institute, among other venues.
She lives in San Diego, California, with her husband, Harrison, and their little dog Sophie Cat, all the while trying to combat empty-nest syndrome by visiting (and birding) with their children and grandchildren whenever possible.
Books: Keep Looking Up: Your Guide to the Powerful Healing of Birdwatching
