Story of the Day - Wind Gatherers
February 28th, 2025
What a beautiful day we had last Friday! It all started with simply showing up with fewer layers on, ready for some spring like frolicking in the woods, listening to the forest as it awakens. Nothing was more apparent to all of us than the chatter and constant movement of our flying friends of the forest; birds! At times they were everywhere, and in moments it had seemed like they all flew away. But did they...?
As we set out to begin our day, we broke into three small groups, ready to explore and put on our 'Ranger' hats :) This was an outing to see just what our feathered friends were up to, and we were going to track them in our small groups and then meet up at Toads (our woodland meeting place and fire pit) to share our findings. Well, my group started off strong... listening and following, listening and following... This technique brought us on a journey that was so reactive and random that we soon moved into a state of subtle frustration, why couldn't we follow the birds? Why can we only hear them and not see them? and when we do see them, how could we possibly follow them from 'down here'.
After some reflection, and food, which we ate in the center of Hartman Meadow, we came to a conclusion; we were learning more about the birds while listening and observing from a distance (our snack spot) than we had during our morning adventure-chasing bird sounds through the woods. So it was decided, we will meet the other Wind Gatherers at Toads, share our stories, have some more snack and then head to Dupar Meadow to set up a lookout (or a listen out as we called it) to observe the birds from a distance... and go from there.
As all three groups descended upon Toads for a snack and sharing of stories, the WG's asked for a 'small fire' to enjoy while snacking. Kyle was kind enough to build the most perfect small fire-now known as a 'Smoof'. Christopher told a story from years ago, when his daughter was a Wind Gatherer (she's 18 now) and they were told about bird language for the first time. Joanne, a mentor at the time shared a story about the beloved Stellars Jay and the importance it holds among the forest community for always looking out for predators and trouble :) This of course, led to many questions and wondering. What better way to learn a little bit more about these animals than to become one! Jane offered up a new game to the group called 'Jays and Chicadees'.
We spent much of our morning and afternoon at Dupar meadow, observing birds, listening to their sounds and trying our hand at making our own bird sounds. This was less of an activity on making the perfect sound, as it was a lesson in - it's not so much what you say, but it's how you say it that matters! So off we went to play Jays and Chickadees... I would rather not play the role of 'thunder thief'', so please ask your Wind Gatherer about this fun game, which we played for hours :)