Montréal
Gazette, May 10, 2002
A
Passion for birds.
by Clara Hughes,
2 time olympic medalist in speed skating and cycling
I
felt apprehensive when first approached by the Canadian
Nature Federation to write an article about birds. I’m
an Olympic athlete in two sports, but an amateur birder
in every respect.
I
didn’t come to birding on my own. I was introduced
to it by a friend. He pointed out a kestrel and I looked
at it through the wrong end of the binoculars. I thought
it was funny then, but now I realize I must have seemed
like just another person who doesn’t think birds
are important enough to give them our attention.
How
I have changed! Now I know a Kingfisher is on the riverbank
without ever seeing it. I recognize a Flycatcher from
its silhouette alone. I know where I can expect to see
Waxwings. And though I haven’t yet managed to sight
a Pileated Woodpecker, I’ll know it when I do,
if only from a fleeting glimpse.
I
have become passionate about birds. I’ve come to
see them as neighbours and companions whose colorful
markings, songs, and antics are a source of endless
entertainment. Birds give me countless hours of recreation
and joy by their mere presence, especially while riding
thousands of kilometers by bicycle on the rural roads
of the world.
I wish I could give others this marvelous gift of passion
for bird watching. But I can’t make you like it
– it has to be an organic experience, growing naturally
from direct contact with nature. So I urge you to get
outside on International Migratory Bird Day and bike,
skate, wheel or walk into an encounter with birds.
As
this day serves to remind us, Canada’s birds need
our attention, 51 are on the national list of Species
at Risk, many suffering from habitat loss. Like birds,
I seek out rural areas for living and working. Pollution,
traffic and the absence of nature have pushed me further
away from urban centers. But it’s not as easy for
the birds to move on when ‘progress’ bulldozes
their once natural habitats. Without the Important Bird
Areas Program to protect habitat for these creatures,
where would they move next?
The
Important Bird Areas Program, a joint initiative of
the Canadian Nature Federation and Bird Studies Canada,
gives local people the information and funding they
need to protect birds in their own communities. This
year, the Program will help the Town of Wadena, SK,
build a Nature Centre that will attract and educate
visitors about local birds like endangered Piping Plovers
and Whooping Cranes. It will support farmers on Pelee
Island, ON, as they work to restore their land into
natural habitat for the Yellow-breasted Chat. It will
fund researchers at Point Lepreau, NB, in monitoring
the migration of elusive Black Scoters.
In
these and 100 other communities from coast to coast,
the Important Bird Areas Program helps people pay attention
to the birds and nature around them, initiating that
organic experience of bird watching that has changed
my life and my work.
Now,
training for the Olympics can be anything but an organic,
natural experience. It’s easy to become entrenched
in the numbers game: watching heart-rate, wattage output,
speed, cadence, distance and intensity. But not every
ride is this way. I can turn the longer, less intense
rides into bird watching sessions. Training where there
is bird activity makes the ride not only easier but
infinitely more interesting.
Birds have become an integral part of my sensory perceptions.
When I’m cycling or walking with others, I can
tell whether they are aware of the birdlife around them.
I’ve learned by experience that the world is a
smaller, duller place without this awareness.
Each
day as I set out by bicycle from my home in the Eastern
Townships of Quebec, I anticipate moving though different
bird communities. The first five kilometers alone are
filled with an incredible variety of species. Surrounding
my house are the omnipresent Chickadees and Nuthatches,
the early flocks of Redpolls, the newly arrived Purple
Finches, the Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, Sapsuckers
and White-winged Doves. I walk down our steep rocky
drive to the dirt road that parallels the shallow flowing
Missisquoi River, and here I may see a Kestrel on the
power lines or a Yellow-shafted Flicker hovering above
them, as if waiting to greet me. In a flooded area by
the river, I might spot a Great Blue Heron or a pair
of Canada Geese nearly hidden by the tall dried grasses.
Further out on the river, the Common Mergansers delight
me with their punk-rock hair, looking cool in the water.
Further along is a small flock of Bohemian Waxwings,
American Goldfinches, and the list goes on….
If
you don’t know one end of the binoculars from the
other, celebrate International Migratory Bird Day by
starting to learn. Pay attention to birds today, and
think about how you might help ensure that they’ll
be around for our children to pay attention to tomorrow.
For
me, thanks to the birds, the first five kilometers of
today’s ride are a mosaic of sights and sounds
so magical I almost forget I’m hard at work training.
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