Any time I read or hear anything about birds, my eyes and ears perk up. This morning on the Today Show they interviewed someone called “Birdgirl.” Immediately I wondered who she was and why she was called this.
The “Birdgirl” is Mya-Rose Craig, a British-Bangladeshi Ornithologist. She is only 21 years old, but she has already received an honorary doctorate in science from the University of Bristol. Even at 7 years old she became a bird watcher and naturalist and appeared in a BBC Documentary called “Twitchers: A Very British Obsession”. The term “twitcher” is British for a “birdwatcher” whose hobby is to watch wild birds in their natural environment according to the Cambridge Dictionary.
Mya-Rose Craig is also a nature activist. As I listened to her story on the Today Show, I heard how she became an environalist the more she studied and learned about birds. I totally understand how one subject led to the other because it has happened to me. All around us nature is telling us that they need our help and that they are having troubles.
Even though we may be listening, we are very slow in reacting. Even though Mya-Rose is young she has written and published a book called “Birdgirl” - Looking to the Skies in Search of A Better Future.” It is soon to be published in the U.S. In the book she tells how birdwatching has never been just a hobby to her, but something that was woven into the threads of her life that was inescapable. She and her family have traveled searching for rare birds and beautiful landscapes. She has even traveled to the Arctic and is pictured on the internet standing on a section of an iceberg with a sign saying “Youth Strike for Climate” as she made a stand for climate change.
Many of us went last year in March to see the movie “Where the Crawdads Sing” after we read the award winning book. In this story Kya Clark becomes a “Birdgirl” too. She is left alone to raise herself in the marsh land and surrounding her in her loneliness is nature. She becomes one who observes birds and all of nature in the marshes of North Carolina. She is an artist and a writer that shares her love of nature. Many of us were swept up into this story and enjoyed both the human aspect and the wonderful nature scenes that were photographed. I know that it was inspirational to me to observe my backyard birds more often even though I don’t have the beautiful marshy landscapes that were in the movie.
On the website Ladyscience.com there is an article called "The Victorian Women Whose Writing Popularized Watching Birds Instead of Wearing Them.” Feathers were very popular during the 19th Century in the making of women’s hats. The beautiful plumage of egrets and other birds whose feathers could be used to adore a woman’s hat or her dresses almost caused many birds to go extinct. This article says that an estimate of 5 million birds were killed for fashion and the writing of Victorian women spearheaded the movement of being bird conscious. These women who made the public more aware of what we were doing changed not only fashions, but our environment for the good. They used whatever resources that they had - whether it was their Garden Clubs, Social Clubs or letters to their local newspapers. Their voice shows that we can make a difference whether it's one voice or hundreds of voices. We need to remember this and be a “Birdgirl” or “Birdboy” who cares about the environment in which we live and not be afraid to make our voices be heard in whatever way that we can.
I repeat: As I “Look at the birds of the air…” Matthew 6:26, I realize that all of creation is necessary to keep not only the birds alive, but humans, too. Let each of us do our part.
My photos are on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest - “Birdie of Mississippi” E-mail:birdieofmississippi@gmail.com My Blog: http://www.birdieofmississippi.blogspot.com
