A friend just text me the same thing on my phone . Its so lovely how much your friends respect your passion . I have alot of friends send me photos or post them on facebook of birds that they see when they are out and about . They always say they never took any real notice of birds before they had to listen to me waffling on about them or seeing my endless photos of birds on FB or flickr. Anyway I think its incredibly nice that when my friends see a bird now they think of me.
It certainly does explain a lot Sparrow I had a friend message me and tell me it was on too .... great that we all know what our birding friends would like. It was a great story and one many of us can relate to at least in parts I am sure. I really loved how he said with his bi polar... when he felt the need to keep going then he just went out with his gear and ...stayed out!!!!! I have gone for hours and hours in the past looking for the next shot .... when I should have been exhausted and just given up. It is amazing how when you channel your energy and thoughts into something that so completely absorbs you that you find a wealth of energy and inspiration.
I think it's Richard Louv who has coined the phrase "nature deficit disorder". Bird photography & watching, I'm confident, can help people deal with the stresses of living in dehumanised, denaturised environments.
Yes so totally true Woko , it is very restorative to surround youself with living breathing natural things. I was lucky enough during my chemo to live in an area where I could walk just 100m to see and hear some lovely birds or to spot the little variegated fairy Wrens hopping around in the bush , and that delight got me out of bed every day and motivated me to try to walk even when I didn't feel up to it .... nature watching should be compulsory in schools!!!! Every teen should take time to put down their electronics and phones and take a walk with nature and should sit undisturbed for a minimum of 30 minutes each day!
Yes nature lets us get away from it all. It revitalises and gives us wider perspectives of the way we live. I don't know how people who are locked away from nature survive mentally eg the members of dense, high rise concrete communities. Many, as in some asian cities, don't have a lot of choice I guess.
Nature watching in schools. Yes I agree it should always be a basic part of the curriculum. In the fifties we had Crosbie Morrison on the wireless, crackling monotonously out of the dusty classroom speaker.....quite soporific for primary school kids. Aah,memories.
We recorded and just watched the show. What can I say, but to express my admiration for your work and my joy at seeing so much beauty.
i grieve for you David at no longer being able to go out photographing. And I thank you for what you have been able to share with nature lovers around the world.
Yes nature lets us get away from it all. It revitalises and gives us wider perspectives of the way we live. I don't know how people who are locked away from nature survive mentally eg the members of dense, high rise concrete communities. Many, as in some asian cities, don't have a lot of choice I guess.
Nature watching in schools. Yes I agree it should always be a basic part of the curriculum. In the fifties we had Crosbie Morrison on the wireless, crackling monotonously out of the dusty classroom speaker.....quite soporific for primary school kids. Aah,memories.
I have had a great couple of weeks taking children on excursions to teach them how to monitor birds as part of Birds in Schools (curriculum resource) - its been such a positive experience. The kids will continue to survey the birds on their school grounds throughout this year.
Hopefully we will be able to roll it out nationally - getting them outdoors, observing and enjoying nature is nothing but positive.
Night Parrot, you reminded me of my own school experience. In Grade 5 our teacher Miss Young would occasionally stop a lesson and tell us to listen and indentify a bird singing outside in the yard. I still recall the cry of the rufous whistler and the huge flocks of silvereyes (greenies) that inhabited our Perth suburb. Where are they now? I haven't heard them for decades.
Miss Young also organized a couple of Sunday morning excursions to the beach near where she lived, not to play and swim but to walk through the dunes and learn about the natural habitat. We watched spitfires spit their goo, examined spiders' webs slung between trees, we triggered trigger plants and most important of all, we learned how to observe nature - everything, however small.
I am grateful that I still have my sense of wonder, and for a wonderful teacher who taught us one of the most important and most basic lessons in life. And now my two year-old granddaughter stops me when she sees or hears a bird, and wants to know what it is.
Holly, I've just taken delivery of Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv. You might find it relevant for your work with kids in nature.
Holly, I've just taken delivery of Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv. You might find it relevant for your work with kids in nature.
I know it well Woko
Richard Louv was in Sydney recently - unfortunately I couldn't make it to the event but someone I know was there and said it was very interesting and inspiring.
Thanks for pointing this out. I would probably have missed it.
Des
A friend just text me the same thing on my phone . Its so lovely how much your friends respect your passion . I have alot of friends send me photos or post them on facebook of birds that they see when they are out and about . They always say they never took any real notice of birds before they had to listen to me waffling on about them or seeing my endless photos of birds on FB or flickr. Anyway I think its incredibly nice that when my friends see a bird now they think of me
.
Kerry - Perth, Western Australia.
So bird photogaphy is a good out let for mental illness, explains a lot.!
It certainly does explain a lot Sparrow
I had a friend message me and tell me it was on too .... great that we all know what our birding friends would like. It was a great story and one many of us can relate to at least in parts I am sure. I really loved how he said with his bi polar... when he felt the need to keep going then he just went out with his gear and ...stayed out!!!!! I have gone for hours and hours in the past looking for the next shot .... when I should have been exhausted and just given up. It is amazing how when you channel your energy and thoughts into something that so completely absorbs you that you find a wealth of energy and inspiration.
Sunshine Coast Queensland
FOr anyone who missed it... remember you can watch it on iview as a catch up too
Sunshine Coast Queensland
I think it's Richard Louv who has coined the phrase "nature deficit disorder". Bird photography & watching, I'm confident, can help people deal with the stresses of living in dehumanised, denaturised environments.
Yes so totally true Woko , it is very restorative to surround youself with living breathing natural things. I was lucky enough during my chemo to live in an area where I could walk just 100m to see and hear some lovely birds or to spot the little variegated fairy Wrens hopping around in the bush , and that delight got me out of bed every day and motivated me to try to walk even when I didn't feel up to it .... nature watching should be compulsory in schools!!!!
Every teen should take time to put down their electronics and phones and take a walk with nature and should sit undisturbed for a minimum of 30 minutes each day!
Sunshine Coast Queensland
I know that getting out in nature has certainly been recommended to me in the past in relation to dealing with depression.
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
Yes nature lets us get away from it all. It revitalises and gives us wider perspectives of the way we live. I don't know how people who are locked away from nature survive mentally eg the members of dense, high rise concrete communities. Many, as in some asian cities, don't have a lot of choice I guess.
Nature watching in schools. Yes I agree it should always be a basic part of the curriculum. In the fifties we had Crosbie Morrison on the wireless, crackling monotonously out of the dusty classroom speaker.....quite soporific for primary school kids. Aah,memories.
We recorded and just watched the show. What can I say, but to express my admiration for your work and my joy at seeing so much beauty.
i grieve for you David at no longer being able to go out photographing. And I thank you for what you have been able to share with nature lovers around the world.
sue
I have had a great couple of weeks taking children on excursions to teach them how to monitor birds as part of Birds in Schools (curriculum resource) - its been such a positive experience. The kids will continue to survey the birds on their school grounds throughout this year.
Hopefully we will be able to roll it out nationally - getting them outdoors, observing and enjoying nature is nothing but positive.
Night Parrot, you reminded me of my own school experience. In Grade 5 our teacher Miss Young would occasionally stop a lesson and tell us to listen and indentify a bird singing outside in the yard. I still recall the cry of the rufous whistler and the huge flocks of silvereyes (greenies) that inhabited our Perth suburb. Where are they now? I haven't heard them for decades.
Miss Young also organized a couple of Sunday morning excursions to the beach near where she lived, not to play and swim but to walk through the dunes and learn about the natural habitat. We watched spitfires spit their goo, examined spiders' webs slung between trees, we triggered trigger plants and most important of all, we learned how to observe nature - everything, however small.
I am grateful that I still have my sense of wonder, and for a wonderful teacher who taught us one of the most important and most basic lessons in life. And now my two year-old granddaughter stops me when she sees or hears a bird, and wants to know what it is.
sue
Holly, I've just taken delivery of Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv. You might find it relevant for your work with kids in nature.
I know it well Woko
Richard Louv was in Sydney recently - unfortunately I couldn't make it to the event but someone I know was there and said it was very interesting and inspiring.
I will never forget the way my mother taught me “ to listen to the silence of nature”.
Both of us sitting , not talking, but instead listening to the silence gradually getting louder and louder, hearing nature talking to us.
I still do, but these days I can hear nature screaming for help, or being silenced and drowned out by progress.
M-L