During my time at Audubon as a communications professional without a background in ornithology, I have felt insecure in my ability to identify bird species. But, then I learned about mindful birding, where species identification wasn’t the priority. Instead, observation of surroundings, being present with one’s thoughts, and noticing how birds and wildlife connect with their natural surroundings.
After my first mindful birding experience in Estes Park in 2023, I began to lead my own mindful birding experiences and was privileged to lead the Mindful Birding Field Trip in Montreal, Canada, during the Audubon Leadership Conference.
It was our first full day of the conference, our attendees loaded on a bus, and we were off to L’Angrignon Park. Excitement and nerves came over me. Here I was with birders from all over the hemisphere, at a beautiful location with trees and a pond as the backdrop, ready to experience mindful birding. We formed a circle for introductions, each participant sharing a meaningful nature moment as we welcomed one another to the space. Our group had individuals from all over the United States, Indigenous Community members who served in various conservation roles, and attendees from South America and different parts of Canada. The diversity in the circle was immediately evident, with every shared story reflecting unique cultural perspectives, ecosystems, and connections to the natural world.
The setting was in a green-adorned park with scattered trees, shrubs, and wetlands. A tern greeted us, and excitement was building. Then we sat and observed. Participants were guided to look in the distance for movement in the sky, in the middle ground for a possible flutter mixed within the leaves, and to look closely and get curious to the ground and plants around them. We paused. We were present. We heard laughter of children from a field trip nearby and calls from birds letting us know they were there. And just when we were completing our sit spot and regathering, we were gifted with the takeoff of a Great Blue Heron that only some had previously noticed from their sit spot. The joy was contagious, and we gathered to share what we we noticed, a common theme was shared in seeing bumble bees digging in pollen.
Many shared that this was the calmest and best they had felt in months. The practice was complete and in shared unity, we connected and created a space of calm and further appreciation of our natural surroundings, and I continue to be in awe of what mindful birding can bring.
