Photo: Red-winged Blackbirds, Rachel Hogancamp/Audubon Photography Awards
Deidra Bryant
Earlier this year Upton Hill Regional Park, Arlington NAACP’s Environmental Climate Justice Committee, Northern Virginia Audubon Society, and Arlington Master Naturalists came together and hosted their first series of Black and Latinx guided bird walks. Many people believe that there isn’t much wildlife to see in their local cities. The incentive for this series was to promote diversity and get participants’ feet wet in the exciting hobby of bird-watching. As quarantine restrictions in Virginia were lifted and people got vaccinated, the public was still interested in how to enjoy themselves outside in new ways since summer was approaching and school was let out. The Black and Latinx bird walks at Upton Hill Regional Park were a wonderful way to have folks participate in bird and plant identification. There were three walks occurring on April 24, May 8, and June 5 led by Musa Murawih and Melody Mobley.
Musa Murawih. Photo: Deidra Bryant
Born into a nomadic Bedouin family in central Sudan, Musa acquainted himself with all life found in the vast land he grew up on. His passion to conserve and protect natural resources globally took him to multiple continents throughout the world where he would eagerly look for birds. In 2010 he moved to the Northern Virginia area. He was elected to the ASNV Board of Directors this year.
Melody Mobley. Photo: Deidra Bryant
Melody is a 29-year veteran of the USDA Forest Service and was the first African-American woman forester. She recently joined the Audubon Society of Northern Virginia and is currently working on a video documentary. The documentary is aptly called “The Starya Project,” after her Cherokee name, “Starya,” which means “Stay strong.” The film discusses how her work protecting America’s public lands and navigating in a predominately white male field motivated her to help the next generation of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) biologists pursue a career in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics.) You can also read more about her experiences in the Forest Service in this article here.
Overall, it was really nice to see people bring their families and friends to the walk. I had the opportunity to attend the walk in June during Black Birders Week (from May 30th -June 5th) when the 17- year cicada emergence was still going strong. The walk started with a few introductions and then a presentation from Melody on her work in the Forest Service. Having members from ARMN join in was especially cool because not only did participants see neighborhood birds including Eastern Towhees, Red-winged Blackbirds, Northern Mockingbirds, Common Grackles, American Robins and Fish Crows, but we also looked at invasive and native plant species, learned about land management projects occurring on site, and learned about the natural history of the Brood X cicadas. It was quite refreshing to talk about our observations, our personal goals to be better birders/naturalists, and share fun stories about our experiences in previous outdoor excursions, even after the bird walk was over.
To be honest, I can count on one hand the number of Black individuals who enjoy birding and identifying flowers and trees like I do, and this includes the people who participated in the bird/nature walk that day. Representation definitely matters and this walk was the first step of many in reaching out to people of color in the NOVA region who are searching for an activity with people who share similar goals in becoming better naturalists, where they can exchange knowledge with other people of color in the field, and can establish a network of individuals that uplifts each other. These kinds of opportunities and role models are needed these days, and not just in ornithology, but in: herpetology, geology, entomology, ichthyology, botany, forestry, mammalogy or basically any study in the natural sciences.
I would like to extend a special thanks to NOVA Regional Parks, Arlington NAACP and Jill Barker- the Upton Hill Regional Park Steward for helping make this a success. We need more visibility of BIPOC in these fields and this series was a breath of fresh air.