Monthly Bird Language Club

Join us for fun-filled mornings of community learning as we explore local natural areas through the language of the birds! 

Bird Language is an ancient interspecies communication system known to all our ancestors and still accessible to us today. To learn bird language is to tap into events occurring across entire landscapes, including which predators are present and where. 

Bird Language club will introduce you to bird vocalizations and behavior using cutting edge methods from the Bird Language Leaders movement designed by Jon Young, including:

• The Five Voices of the Birds
• Interpreting Shapes of Alarm
• Deep Sensory Awareness and Natural Movement
• Mapping Bird Language
• Storytelling and Dynamic Sensory and Memory Skills

Each meeting will include a brief introduction to bird language followed by a group bird sit, collaborative debrief, and a bird walk focusing on listening, observations, and questioning to lead to deeper learning. Beginning and experienced birders welcome! 

Bird Language Club is FREE! There is no registration process; just show up. We will meet in any weather except for snow/ice. Bring what you need to be comfortable outside all morning, including water, snacks, notebook & pencil (write-in-rain is ideal), sit-pad, binoculars if you have them, and layers/footwear appropriate for the weather and walking/sitting off-trail in muddy/wet areas. Class runs from 8am – 11am, but please arrive by 7:45 to get oriented. Please carpool if possible; parking is limited! 

Bird Language club is geared towards adults and mature teens, though all ages and families are welcome. Minors must be accompanied by an adult. 

Please direct questions about Bird Language Club to our Coordinator Heather Durham at [email protected]

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Upcoming Dates

Spring of 2023 – One Sunday per Month

• April 23rd – Riverview Wildlife Refuge, Snohomish
• May 28th – McCormick Park, Duvall
• June 18th – Riverview Wildlife Refuge, Snohomish

July – October dates coming soon!

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Locations

McCormick Park location details: 26200 NE Stephens St Duvall, WA

Meet in the meadow below the parking lot. Restrooms onsite. Terrain generally flat, with gravel path and mowed field for sit area. 

Riverview Wildlife Refuge location details: 2129 2nd St Snohomish, WA

Meet at the entrance on 2nd street at the junction of Riverview Rd just west of the Route 9 overpass. Small roadside parking lot at the entrance to the water treatment plant, with overflow parking on 2nd St. No restrooms onsite. Terrain generally flat and mowed; may be areas of taller vegetation in sit area.

Meet Your Instructor:

Heather Durham

Heather’s deep relationship with nature began through summers as a camper then counselor at a New Hampshire YMCA camp, which helped land her first real job as an environmental educator at a residential outdoor school. More than twenty years later shes gained a bachelor of arts in Psychology, a master of science in Environmental Biology, a master of fine arts in creative writing, and a multi-page resume comprising positions at outdoor schools, parks systems and environmental nonprofits around the country. Heather attended The Immersion at Wilderness Awareness School in 2007-2008, and after a few more years wandering between the wilds of the North Cascades and the urban wilds of Portland Oregon, Heather returned to Duvall to apply her multi-faceted experience behind the scenes at WAS, where she wears multiple hats including Bookkeeper, Kamana Mentor, Bookseller, Bird Language Club Coordinator, and all-around Office Elf.

Heather’s passions include reading and writing creative nonfiction, watching and listening to birds, swimming in rivers and lakes, getting nature tattoos, and making order out of chaos. She is the author of two nature memoirs: Going Feral: Field Notes on Wonder and Wanderlust, and Wolf Tree: an Ecopsychological Memoir in Essays.

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