Catskill Center’s Annual Birding Event Takes Flight This May, Focuses on Inclusivity
A weekend of expert-led birding walks and talks resumes in person this year, during “Taking Flight 2022: Flock Together,” May 13-15. The event will focus for the first time on building an inclusive birding community. Leaders of the Feminist Bird Club will deliver the keynote address.
"At Feminist Bird Club, we believe that the outdoors is for everyone. Taking time to think about how to make events accessible, being mindful that accommodations are as individual as each person who needs them, and listening to people when they tell you what they need will make your events more successful and more enjoyable for everyone,” says Martha Harbison, Feminist Bird Club Vice President. “We're excited to have these discussions at Taking Flight and demonstrate some of the ways we think about inclusion at Feminist Bird Club."
Harbison will lead a workshop and a walk to identify and help birders appreciate often hard-to-spot female birds. Other highlights of the 2022 schedule include beginning birding, apps and birding, bird banding, and an early morning hike to the top of Hunter Mountain in search of Bicknell’s Thrush and other high-elevation bird species.
"The Catskill Center is proud to offer a first-rate birding weekend for seasoned and new birders alike. Taking Flight is recognized as an exciting opportunity to experience the Catskills, observe birds in their breeding habitats, and to network with other birders. Our trip leaders and workshop presenters are knowledgeable and experienced,” said Peg DiBenedetto, Catskill Center Board Chair and Taking Flight organizer. “We invite everyone to join us for an enjoyable weekend from start to finish."
The event is based at the family owned and operated Winter Clove Inn in Round Top, NY, in Greene County. For more information, to register, or for sponsorship opportunities, visit our Taking Flight web pages. Taking Flight resumes after the event was canceled during 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
(Photo courtesy of Mary Guyton)