Virtual Accessible Field Trips
Georgia Audubon is partnering with Birdability to host quarterly virtual field trips highlighting accessible trails, birders who experience accessibility challenges, and birds from around the country!
On each outing, a Georgia Audubon and a Birdability representative will be joined by two guest co-hosts. All four birders will explore an accessible trail in their communities (from all over the US!), speak about their own accessibility challenges, and share the birds they find along the way with you!
To find out who’s co-hosting next month’s fieldtrip, check out our Events page. This is also where you can find the link to sign up to the Zoom webinar to watch live. You can also tune in via Georgia Audubon’s Facebook page to watch, or share the recording of the event. If you can’t join us live, the recording will be available here to watch later.
These events will occur quarterly, so stay tuned to learn about more accessible trails around the country with more birders who experience accessibility challenges!
November 2021
On Saturday November 20th, 2021 we went birding with:
Emerson Milam (she/her), who is a Birdability Captain who has chronic Lyme disease and ADHD, which she views as a birding superpower. She was birding from Huntley Meadows in Fairfax, Virginia.
Joseph Saunders (he/him), is a wildlife photographer, member of BlackAFInSTEM and owner of Paraherpetologica, who uses a manual wheelchair. He was birding at Lake Hefner in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Freya McGregor (she/her), is the Birdability Coordinator and an occupational therapist with a dodgy knee. She will be birding at Moundville Archeological Park near Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Corina Newsome (she/her), Community Engagement Manager for Georgia Audubon. She was birding in Atlanta, Georgia.
June 2021
On Saturday June 26th, 2021 we went birding with:
Bonnie Lewkowicz, Birdability Captain in California, who uses a power wheelchair as a result of a spinal cord injury. She coordinates the Birding for All program through Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program. She will be birding with...
Judy Smith, who also uses a power wheelchair as a result of spinal cord injury, and helps lead Birding for All outings. They will be birding together Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline in Berkley, California.
Corey Lycopolus, who is a US Army veteran and Education Assistant for Audubon Southwest. He experiences mobility challenges due to foot and ankle injuries from his time in the Army. He will be birding at the Randall Davey Audubon Center and Bear Canyon in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Virginia Rose, Birdability Founder and President, who uses a manual wheelchair as a result of a spinal cord injury. She will be birding in Austin, Texas.
Corina Newsome, Community Engagement Manager for Georgia Audubon. She will be birding in Atlanta, Georgia.
April 2021
On Saturday April 10th at 10am Eastern, we went birding with:
Sara Newman, who walks with a cane after breaking her ankle in a hiking accident last year, and continues to experience neurological pain. (Read more about Sara’s story on the Birdability Blog.) She will be birding with her fiance...
Kevin Lester, who has congenital hearing loss. Kevin and Sara will be birding at McLane Nature Trail in Olympia, Washington.
Patrick Oaks, US Army Combat Medic with multiple deployments, who was involved in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosion in Iraq, and lives with chronic pain as a result. He will be birding with his wife...
Freya McGregor, Birdability Coordinator and Occupational Therapist with a 'dodgy' knee. Together with Patrick, she will be birding along the Northport Levy Trail, in Northport, Alabama.
Corina Newsome, Community Engagement Manager for Georgia Audubon. She will be birding in Atlanta, Georgia.
March 2021
On Saturday March 13th, we went birding and exploring trails with the following guests:
Michael Hurben, a global birder who has a goal of seeing or hearing half the world's bird species (5,400!) despite being legally blind as a result of Retinitis Pigmentosa. He blogs at legallyblindbirding.net and wrote a guest blog for the Birdability Blog about his experiences. (Read it here.) He will be birding in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Cassandra Dean, Birdability Captain for Nebraska, who has fibromyalgia and Raynaud’s disease (both autoimmune diseases), and will be birding at Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center near Lincoln, Nebraska.
Virginia Rose, Birdability Founder and President, who uses a manual wheelchair as a result of a spinal cord injury. She will be birding at Richard Moya Park in Austin, Texas.
Corina Newsome, Community Engagement Manager for Georgia Audubon. She will be birding in Atlanta, Georgia.
January 2021
On Saturday, January 9th we went birding with:
Jerry Berrier, consultant for Mass Audubon’s All Persons Trails who is totally blind, who showed us his mics and speakers and how he birds by ear from his computer, in Malden, Massachusetts.
Alexander deBarros, board member of San Fernando Valley Audubon who has Type 1 diabetes and autism, digiscoped all kinds of birds for us including American Pipit and Brewer’s Blackbird at Lake Balboa in Los Angles, California.
Freya McGregor, Birdability Coordinator and Occupational Therapist with a 'dodgy' knee visited Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, Alabama. There she had 21,000 Sandhill Cranes (plus three Whooping Cranes!), with a beautifully accessible observation building.
Corina Newsome Community Engagement Manager for Georgia Audubon shared some Double-crested Cormorants and Canada Geese and thoughts on the accessibility of the trail she was at in Piedmont Park, Atlanta, Georgia!
December 2020
On Saturday, December 12th we went birding with:
Virginia Rose, Birdability founder and wheelchair user in Austin, Texas, supported by Celeste Treadway, birding at Lake Creek Trail in Austin, Texas.
Joe Watts, board member of Alabama Audubon and National Audubon Society, and Linda Neighbors, Alabama Audubon field trip leader who uses a wheelchair and crutches as a result of spinal cord injury and arthritis. They were birding from the accessible observation platform at Limestone Park south of Birmingham, Alabama.
Freya McGregor, Birdability Occupational Therapist with a 'dodgy' knee, at Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest near Louisville, Kentucky.
Corina Newsome, Community Engagement Manager for Georgia Audubon, at Panola Mountain State Park south of Atlanta, Georgia.
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