At eight years old I took my first flight lesson. I knew flying was what I was going to do the rest of my life. I was mystified beyond belief. How was I just suspended in the air? My fascination with birds had begun, but I had not realized that. Looking down from the window of the plane, over Atlanta, I could see my whole life: where I lived, where I was born. Places that I had seen so many times, but never from this perspective.

Last week, Birdability founder Virginia Rose and Birdability Coordinator Freya McGregor were birding in Southern California. Here’s a wrap up of why the San Diego Bird Festival, held by San Diego Audubon Society, was a success from Birdability’s perspective. It boils down to the fact that San Diego Audubon, and the festival coordinator Jen Hajj in particular, are wonderful allies.

Day-to-day life as an autistic person can be unpredictable.  I often feel unbalanced.  Birds connect me to the world.  Yet, when I’m birding, everything holding me down feels less weighty, like being buoyant in salt water.  The connection provides relief from isolation, and the weightlessness quiets anxiety and uncertainty. I’m both grounded and untethered in a fleeting moment of bird-human-nature encounter.

There has been speculation on social media, via email, and in presentations. So, to celebrate one year of Birdability becoming a non-profit, it’s time to get to the bottom of this burning question. Why is a White-breasted Nuthatch Birdability’s logo?

My love of bird watching has always been paired with my desire to illustrate them. But behind my love of birds was always the pestering problem of my color blindness. As a whole, "color blindness" is a pretty vague term to a not uncommon condition. Worldwide about 7% of men and .05% of women have some form of colorblindness. Simply put it's "it's the inability to distinguish certain colors."

Braille is super cool. A tactile code (not a language of it’s own), it is used to write languages from English to Arabic so people who are blind or have low vision can read. We love seeing braille used labelling diagrams on interpretive signs; labelling trail maps; an in booklets visitors to natures centers and parks can borrow, so braille readers can access the same information on interpretive signs that sighted visitors can.

Birding has been central to my sanity. Whenever I felt overwhelmed or frustrated, I made the time to go birding. Unfortunately, even this relaxing activity is not immune to my struggles with hearing loss. When I am birding in a group I am met with phrases like, "Get your ears checked." Or, "Are you stupid? Why can't you understand me?" when I ask someone to repeat themselves. I find these events to be more frustrating than they are worth, so I rarely interact with other birders.

Wow! What a blast. Birdability Week 2021 was even more exciting and empowering than our first Birdability Week last year. From amplifying the experiences of birders with access challenges, to helping more folks feel like part of the birding community; from sharing about the features of a truly accessible trail, to learning important lessons on respectful collaboration. We even continued to redefine birding! There were a lot of wonderful learning opportunities, too, some recorded here in case they’re of value to you, too.

My brother Gidon is three and a half years older than me. He started birding just before I did - we were both under 10. Thanks to his infectious enthusiasm about wildlife and birding, my childhood growing up in Jerusalem was all outdoors. In 2015 Gidon was diagnosed with a horrible, terminal neurodegenerative disease, ALS. (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.) His disease develops in a medium, steady pace. For Birdability Week, organized by Birdability, I want to share here the inspiring story of my brother Gidon.

There are so many ways to enjoy wild birds, and we want to encourage every body to get involved! Birding by looking out your window or enjoying birds from you backyard is a wonderful way to get involved. Some folks like making things; some folks are kids! During Birdability Week 2021, two of our Birdability Captains created a bird-related craft activity. Even better, both of the activities were designed to help welcome birds to your backyard and keep them safe. Enjoy!

Organizing a Big Sit on the occasion of Mass Audubon’s Bird-a-thon this year was an incredible learning experience for me. It turns out that being intentionally inclusive is even more rewarding than I’d thought it could be! I thought it would be great to reflect on the lessons I learned (and the mistakes that I made) this spring so that your stationary accessible birding event can be the best possible version of itself.

Thank you for planning to hold an accessible, inclusive bird outing! Advertising a bird outing simply as “accessible” does not provide nearly the amount of detail that most people with disabilities and other health concerns need to decide if that’s an event they could attend. Here are two examples of event descriptions which include this kind of detailed information. You’re welcome to copy their formats when you write yours!

“What brings you in today?” the doctor asked as she sat in a chair next to mine. She looked about my age — mid-forties — but unlike me, she didn’t slouch or have dark bags under her eyes. Opening her laptop, she waited for me to begin.

I inhaled, trying to hold back the tears starting to choke at my throat. But the words tumbled out: I’m exhausted all the time, my heart is going crazy, beating hard in my chest then not beating at all, I have arthritis in my wrists, I get cold and hot but not like a fever, I can’t think straight or remember anything, and when I leave my house I feel like I’m having a panic attack!

Everybody has the right to feel safe in nature. But, like the physical accessibility of a birding location, there are many factors that can affect any one person’s feeling of safety and security when they’re outside. Physical safety concerns (like roots, rocks or dogs off leash), and social and cultural safety concerns can impact someone’s ability to go birding. Remember: everybody has different experiences, and just because you feel safe doesn’t mean everybody else will too.

I didn’t — I couldn’t — consider any of those questions. I only thought of my bag. If I could fit everything I needed inside of it I would be fine. If I only had the perfect baggage, I wouldn’t carry any invisible baggage of my own. The more consumed I became by the bag, the more I imagined I might need. But there was no way the bag could hold everything, until I suddenly had the solution: think of Mary Poppins’ bag. Everything fits into it, and everything returns to it. The bag will be enough.

Captions are an easy, important way to ensure that the information you’re putting into the world is accessible to as many people as possible. They also signal, strongly, that you and your organization prioritize including people who are Deaf, deaf or hard of hearing in what you’re doing. They’re one way of allowing folks to opt in, instead of forcing them to opt out.

Being autistic has shaped my birding identity and experience much differently than the way most others experience birding. Being an autistic birder can be both a blessing and a curse. For example, I struggle to go birding in busy places, observe noisy birds, travel far from home, and go birding in a group with other birders. However, being autistic gives me certain strengths as well.

When birds are named useful names that tell us something about their field marks, their behavior or their preferred habitat, they are so much easier to learn and remember for beginner birders. And when we do this, we make birding that much more accessible for everybody.

I used feel frustrated that my hands were full with my hiking poles, just when I wanted to pull out my camera and snap a photo of a gorgeous stream or some visiting Ring-necked Ducks. I have learned to stop, make sure I am standing in a stable place, then tuck my poles under one arm, freeing my hands to grab the camera. Once the photo is snapped, the camera goes back in its case, I grab both poles, and we’re on our way.

Once upon a time, a woman with a spinal cord injury who uses a wheelchair to get around discovered birding. Along with the joy of the actual birds, she discovered the fun of being part of a like-minded community, the perfect kind of exercise (that doesn’t really feel like exercise), and the health and wellness benefits of being in nature.