April 14 and/or May 19 9 am-2 pm
At Beautiful Hidden Lake in Eagle Creek OR.
CLICK TO REGISTER FOR APRIL 14TH HERE
CLICK TO REGISTER FOR MAY 19TH HERE
Together we invite the birds to lead us on a sonic expedition into the rich wilderness of our soul. We invite Earth and the winged ones to be a primary teachers, and sound our spiritual language. We are listenative–listening with great curiosity as we enter into sacred exchange with the spirits of the land and our own guides. Shared spiritual experiences cultivate community as we move together at the speed of deer. And serve Earth by being in love with her beings. Whether we want to know who is singing & calling, or what they are telegraphing about us and our nature scape ecosystem, these skills enrich and amplify the healing and teachings of the Bird Nations.
We say thank you to these dear ones as we honor and focus on the birds as profoundly potent teachers of listening.
Birding by Ear is a classic area of study where we use the textural language of sound to describe what we are hearing so that we can identify the bird species around us. We use this to gain insight into who we are sharing nature spaces with–especially when seeing birds is made difficult by complex vegetation or light conditions (or if you are in the house or tent and can hear but not see outside).
Bird Language is the study of noticing the spatial and temporal pattern of those qualities of bird sounds we hear, and interpreting what these patterns might mean. The close attunement to bird language has been crucial to the thriving of indigenous cultures the world over. Bird sounds helped identify key ecosystem and spiritual features and phenomena, like food sources, along with providing indicators of dangers across the landscape. Alarm calls alerted people to the presence of predators, or dietary animals not readily seen in the landscape. Contact calls and chatters, along with flight patterns pointed the way to plants’ seed, fruit and honey source locations.
During the birding experiences I facilitate, we immerse ourselves in the art of listening. We notice how birds communicate with each other and other beings. We can utilize bird language to diagnose our state of consciousness and teach us how to deepen our connection to nature. As we slow down to the speed of deer, the birds respond differently to us, and reflect those changes in the patterns of their singing and calling. They can be potent biofeedback guides to help us relax and expand into nature.
CLICK TO REGISTER FOR APRIL 14TH HERE
CLICK TO REGISTER FOR MAY 19TH HERE
Learn about Bird Language from my favorite mentor in this body of work, Jon Young, using the links to a few of Jon’s YouTube videos. These videos provide glimpses of and insight into some fundamentals we will share while we are on the land and listen together:
https://youtu.be/8m7rfMF_zs0?si=sYqczW3-sRItw-Yq
https://youtu.be/wRGeBvpUPaQ?si=ya5cdgPS0dLNMN-Y
Coming soon: Clickable link for an outline of tools for listening to birds. I wrote these instructions as part of a field guide for NatureMapping–a National Biodiversity citizen science Program my Non-Profit Wolftree was pioneering with Defenders of Wildlife, Metro Greenspaces (thanks Deb Scrivens!) and the US Forest Service.