Bird Club, an opportunity for birding enthusiasts to come together and share their passion for nature, had their first meeting of the year on Sep. 24. The club’s members are a tight knit group of friends, and they would love to welcome new members.
The club was founded by club President Aya Howard (12) last August. She loved birds, and thought it would be fun to talk with other people who do as well.
“It’s definitely made me think more about how to teach people about birds,” Howard said. “I’ve learned on my own, but then I have to think about how to present that to people who may not know a lot about birds.”
Every month, Howard prepares presentations for the meetings and starts each meeting by teaching everyone something new about birds.
“It depends on each meeting, but we’ll typically review birds in the area and [talk about] different experiences everyone has had with birding recently, and then we’ll conclude with a bird-themed game,” club member Newt Wheeler (12) said.
At their first meeting on Sep. 24, they started by looking through some pictures that club members took over the summer, then played a new bird board game.
Some members are very passionate about birds and spend a lot of time birding, including the president. Howard’s love of birds started in sixth grade when she joined Science Olympiad.
“[I] started doing ornithology, and I was like, ‘this is cool,’” she said.
Since then, Howard’s love of birds has only grown. After starting the club and encouraging her friends to join, she has learned much more about birds, and even decided that she likely wants to go into ornithology later in life.
“[I’d like to be] probably a professor, like teaching other people about birds, or maybe working in the field, doing research and bird banding,” Howard said.
Members of the club don’t have to be as passionate about birding as the president. Many participants simply come for a good chance to learn new things and have fun hanging out together.
“My friend started [bird club] so I went to support her, but also it’s kind of interesting.” Caroline Comstock (12) said.
The next meeting will be Wednesday, Oct. 29 in Heather Mueller’s room. The club is a great opportunity to make new friends and bond over birds.
“It’s fun,” Comstock said. “You should come.”
