Welcome, Birders!

Let’s Bird Together From Home is the first virtual bird festival of its kind. Yesterday I woke up at home, instead of in Ohio for The Biggest Week in American Birding Festival which many of us are sad to miss this year. The thought came to me: What if we could have a birding festival online?! And so we did.

It may not be perfect, but we are willing to give this a shot. This idea only works if you get involved. Post in the group, live-stream birding from your home, or share your knowledge in a daily presentation with others. Or join us for virtual “happy hour” at the end of your work day. We want birders to feel connected during this time.

Join us online from May 9-16 to celebrate online the resiliency of the birding community as we celebrate birding from home.

Here’s How it Works:

Many birders are already connecting in new ways from home, during this global pandemic. We’ve seen virtual Birds and Beers meetings, digital talks, and live-streaming of bird feeders and backyards around the world. This group is celebrating all of these things, and encouraging more of it! For one week, we will maintain a Calendar of Events that are happening in the digital birding community to make it easier for you to participate. It’s a digital birding festival!

The Facebook group is the headquarters of the festival. Digital events, free and open to the public will be advertised here. Open the shared Google Sheet to see what events are happening when, and then tune in and participate!

Want to lead an event? Contact the festival organizers with your idea and we will add your event to the sheet, and share away! We want this to be something everyone can participate in.

Goal: To connect birders everywhere and celebrate spring migration, and to create a welcoming online community for new birders

Who Can Participate?

Everyone is welcome! Check out our schedule and tune in for whatever events you have time for. Want to lead an event? Contact us with your idea and we will get you on the schedule.

Field Trips

Virtual Field Trips will take place over Facebook Live and Google Hangouts. Field Trip Leaders will add their trip to the public shared schedule of events, and be responsible for posting a link to their meeting or Facebook Live or contacting participants with their info.

Workshops / Keynotes

Digital Workshops and Keynote presentations will take place daily over Zoom, led by teachers, birding guides, photographers and authors. These speakers will present slides on their talk, . All presentations are free and available to the public, with a suggested donation to BSBO at the beginning and end of workshop. They can also be recorded and shared afterwards for folks who couldn’t tune in live.

Hang Out and Talk Birds

Want to talk birds/birding with other like-minded people? How about “meet” your Facebook friends from across the country or world? During our nightly virtual “happy hour” or weekly Birds and Beers events, catch up with other birders for some avian fellowship and bird banter.

Fundraising

While this event is not directly linked with a non-profit, we would love to raise funds and show love to those organizations near and dear to our hearts, who have had to cancel in-person birding festivals this year. We hope to have some items donated and listed on eBay, with proceeds going to the chosen conservation groups. Have a suggestion of a worthy cause? Email us or suggest it in the Facebook group.

Questions or Comments?

We may have missed something. We’d love to hear from you and fix it!

Email thebirdingproject@gmail.com and we’ll respond as soon as we can.

Thanks for your patience!