I am writing a series of posts describing my participation in volunteer citizen science activity related to birding (bird watching) in Buchanan County, Virginia. Especially as highlighted by recent events, it is important to recognize the unearned privilege that I, as a white man receive in that I am able to go to public areas in the United States with a feeling of welcome and safety. Better than my description, read the interview transcription from Christian Cooper who was accosted in New York’s Central Park while birding. The consequences of racism in this country are serious. Ahmaud Arbery was murdered in Georgia while jogging. And the arrival of the police can result in death, as it did for George Floyd. I on the other hand have received only polite inquiries and even offers of assistance while doing this citizen science project. It is my fervent desire that anyone regardless of race or gender be able to feel at least as safe and welcome as I have in visiting these beautiful parts of Virginia. While performing this volunteer work, I also shared and encouraged participation in Black Birders Week with other atlas volunteers and my social media outlets.

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to Buchanan County standout birders Daryl Owens and Roger Mayhorn. Daryl wrote an excellent description of area birding, and Roger is the president of the Buchanan County Bird Club. Both Daryl and Roger provided welcome assistance in best access to locations in the area. Roger invited me to visit his gorgeous yard and property which he has transformed over time into a haven for birds with native plantings and bird-friendly features. We were all three able to visit while maintaining appropriate distance (because of COVID-19).

Introduction

While world and national events have taken on greatest importance on this trip, I have continued the volunteer effort I started while also supporting #BlackBirdersWeek. Future posts will cover other aspects but I wanted to first reflect on my thoughts after listening and learning from black voices. So I will introduce the project, and the area, with my thoughts of how it might be different if we could eradicate systemic racism in the United States.

The 2nd Virginia Breeding Bird Atlas

The 2nd Virginia Breeding Bird Atlas(VABBA2) is a five year (2016-2020) statewide effort to understand the distribution of different bird species across the state. VABBA2 is funded and supported by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF), as well as the Virginia Society of Ornithology (VSO). The first atlas was performed between 1985 and 1989. My involvement with the project started in earnest in the 2nd year of the project (2017) when Susan Babineau (spouse) and I started volunteering by going to different areas and documenting (using a protocol, apps, and online tools provided by the project) what birds we saw and whether they were exhibiting any breeding behavior. Birding is focused on priority blocks distributed evenly and randomly across 1/6 of the surface of Virginia. As a result, volunteers go all over Virginia and we need more volunteers. Imagine how many more volunteers and how many more discoveries we could have if, for example, black birders felt more welcome across all of Virginia.

Buchanan County

Buchanan county is located in the western part of the state bordering both West Virginia and Kentucky. From a birding perspective, it offers plenty of mountainous woodland at medium elevation for the area. It is also interesting from the perspective that as a coal region county, significant surface mining has been performed in the area and some of the surface mines, no longer active, have been repurposed for recreational (and some wildlife) use. One of those areas was in a Priority Block that will be discussed in this series of posts. These recovered areas are flatter and have successional habitat different than the surrounding woodlands. In one area, recovery includes reintroduction of Elk after being extirpated in Virginia 100 years ago. Buchanan county has many areas where, I think a black birder would feel unwelcome. While I am sure it is not reflective of the population as a whole, I did see two confederate flags. According to wikipedia, the county is overwhelmingly white. Driving my truck, as a white male, I was accepted and given friendly waves where others might not be.

As I write this post, the trip is nearly over. Overall my thoughts keep returning to the importance of the focus that #BlackBirdersWeek brings to the fact that not everyone could do a trip with the same feeling of safety and welcome that I have felt. It is my fervent hope that all may be able to do so soon.