By Lynne Arrowsmith

Douglas “Birdman” Gray is one of my favorite birders, and he has agreed to share his “Bird of the Month” each month with the Outdoor Afro community. Birding is a hobby almost anyone can do no matter the age, and it can open up a whole new world of recreation and environmental stewardship. Birds are everywhere — from the tallest city skyscrapers to the remote backwoods! With Doug’s help, you can perhaps come to recognize birds found right where you live!

Bird of the Month
Douglas Gray, Outdoor Afro Contributor

Seen from a distance or in poor light, this month’s Bird of the Month just seems like a small, dark bird. But seen at close range and in good light, this bird’s appearance can be almost breathtaking. This month’s featured bird is the Indigo Bunting.

With such a pretty name, you’d expect a pretty bird…and you’d not be disappointed. The deep velvet blue feathers of the Indigo Bunting sets this bird apart indeed. (The deep velvet blue of the male…that is! So void of distinguishing field marks, the female Indigo Bunting hardly seems to even be a member of the same species of bird. Which is actually a very good thing, as the female spends her time trying to stay concealed as she incubates eggs and cares for the young. And indeed, she is not often seen, but even when seen, she is easily overlooked. I’ve added a second picture to this BOTM so you can see the contrast between the male and female.)

With his astonishing beauty, the male Indigo Bunting seems to know his beauty, and glorify in it, by singing persistently. At a recent picnic at Fort Harrison State Park, I could hear an Indigo Bunting singing nearby as soon as I walked up. (The mnemonic often used for identifying their paired call is, “fire; fire; where? where? here; here; see it? see it?”) I arrived at the picnic at about 11:30AM and that bird sang almost without ceasing until I left at 3:00PM.

An interesting piece of information about the Indigo Bunting is the fact that its color is actually not blue at all, but black…(believe it or not). The blue color is generated by the diffraction of light through their feathers which makes them appear blue. Because of this, they can appear as shades from turquoise to shades of black, depending on how the light hits them. So this beautiful blue-feathered display can actually be seen as a trick of nature.

~*~*~

Douglas “Birdman” Gray has been birding almost all of his life. He grew up on a family farm near Clarksville, Tennessee, where they grew crops ranging from apricots to wheat, and most things in between. They also raised chickens, guineas, pigs, horses, and a cow named…….Apples. Doug’s grandfather identified the birds they would see daily on the farm.

Doug now resides in Indianapolis and works in Parenteral Engineering with Eli Lilly and Company. Most of his current birding takes place in Indiana, with a concentration on Central Indiana, where he leads bird walks for “Backyard Birds“. Doug can be reached at 317-255-7333.

In the meantime, we hope you are creating some fun summer memories of your own in the outdoors.

Can’t wait to share with you all the details and photos!

Have a great week,

Rue

Dianne Glave has been a friend of Outdoor Afro from the beginning, starting when I discovered her important work related to African American foodways to research for a blog I wrote last year. Dianne’s newest book, Rooted in the Earth: Reclaiming the African American Environmental Heritage has just begun arriving in mailboxes this week. So we asked Dianne to share with us some of the journey leading her to write this terrific work, and we hope you will be inspired to purchase your own copy that covers a ground-breaking perspective of African-American historical engagement with the outdoors.

My parents took me camping in upstate New York when I was a child. We stayed in cabins for one week each summer from when I was a small child to my early teens. I was basically set free to roam around the property of the camp. I saw my parents at meals in the common dining hall. I sat on the dock with my fishing pole putting worms on the hook, catching fish, and then throwing them back in the water. I had so much freedom. I’d row from one side of the lake to the other by myself. I ran around the woods by myself jumping over logs and sitting in fallen leaves. My grandparents also had a farm in Jamaica in the Caribbean. I was down there visiting them often during the summer as a child. I saw a pig slain—his head and neck placed on a low swing. I looked into the well that provided our drinking water; it was filled with golden fish which I now understand cleaned the water.

It all came together when I went to Stony Brook University to work on my M.A. and Ph.D. in history emphasizing African Americans and the environment. Rooted in the Earth: Reclaiming the African American Environmental Heritage is more than a decade of effort from my time at Stony Brook. Actually, it goes back to my parents and grandparents. My audience, of course, is African Americans because that is the focus of the book. I do feel though that the book holds universal truths about the environment that anyone around the globe can relate to. For example, somehow someway we all go back to agriculture even if we trace back to the pre-history of the dawn of humankind in the cradle of civilization we call Africa.

I also owe so much to the internet community who have taken me in and embraced me through my blogging and the upcoming book. I have known Frank Peterman and Audrey Peterman, co-authors of Legacy on the Land: A Black Couple Discovers Our National Inheritance and Tells Why Every American Should Care for several years as part of the world of diversity and the environment. I met Evonne Blythers through Keeping it Wild about the same time I learned about the Petermans.  I was able to reconnect with all of them. Rue Mapp and Jarid Manos, new friends, keep in touch online, share about my work, and call me regularly to check-in on me. I am also glad to have gotten to know Dudley Edmondson who wrote Black & Brown Faces in America’s Wild Places.

There are so many others to recognize,  including Rona Fernandez who blogs at Brown Girl Going Green. I think Rona reads all my blog posts! Mayra McQuirter another one of the first people to find my blog and was quick to write about the book. And Danielle N. Lee invited me to do my first blog carnival; what an experience! I think that starting the blog back in January 2010 really helped me to view the environment in new ways. It keyed me into the many perspectives that make up the whole, and also connected me with the little, yet important things around me, like slugs and birds. Through my blog, I also get to tap into my love of popular culture and reflect on movies and books. I hope I have given people something to think about through the blog and later the book. For me the experience has given me more opportunities to connect to people and nature. For that, I am grateful.

Purchase Dianne’s book at your local independent bookstore or on Amazon today!

Writer Stephanie Ogburn captured the fun spirit of a recent birdwatching event, situated in a stretch of shoreline that borders an industrial zone and a large community of color in Oakland, California. The event was a collaborative effort between Outdoor Afro and Golden Gate Audubon of the San Francisco Bay Area. Most participants were first-time birders, and left the trip inspired to learn more about the birds and other wildlife found right in their own backyard. The full article is available for paid subscribers online or in print via retail outlets, but here is a sneak peak!

Here is some water fun enjoyed by my kids and their cousins, courtesy of swimming skills! Knowing how to swim is the gift that keeps on giving and is easiest to learn as a young child. Swimmers enjoy sports such as kayaking, rafting, diving, snorkeling, scuba and can interact with water confidently.

According to a Diversity in Aquatics article, “Black children drown at a rate more than three times that of white children,” and nearly 70 percent of African-American children do not know how to swim according to a YMCA survey.

It’s not too late in the year (or in life) to sign up for swim lessons at your local YMCA or community pool. Some camps, such as those offered by Outdoor Afro Tracey Friley’s OBG Adventure Camps, help teen girls come of age through culturally sensitive travel and water exploration. If you are a grown-up, consider taking lessons solo or with other adults. There are many classes available at local community colleges, with some even specialized for adults who might feel uncertain about the water.

If you and your loved ones don’t know how to swim, now is the time to learn. Learning to swim not only prevents unnecessary drowning, but also helps you get the most out of your summer fun!

Rue at 7, circa 1980

Regardless of how patriotic you are, the 4th of July represents family gatherings, fireworks, and great food — all to be experienced outdoors. Growing up, my family spent nearly every 4th of July at our place in Clearlake, California.

Cousins and close family friends would join us for non-stop swimming, hiking, talent shows, and driveway basketball games. Our fathers closely tended the 55-gallon drum that cooked “low and slow” meats seasoned at least two days before. And inside on the kitchen stove, the pressure cooker hissed the readiness of blackeyed peas and many other delicacies fussed over for hours by our mothers. Those were magical times that informed the love for the outdoors and family I hold today. In just a couple hours, I’ll get on the road and drive back to that sacred place to meet my now-grown cousins to share with our own children what remains of our childhood revelry.

So happy 4th of July Outdoor Afros! And in the spirit of great eats and fun across generations, here is a great barbecue sauce to share, suitable for everything from beef ribs to Boca Burgers. Taken from Sylvia’s Soul Food Cookbook:

Sylvia’s Soul Food Barbeque Sauce

Time 20 minutes
Serves 12
Ingredients

16 oz. Red Devil Hot Sauce
2 1/2 tsps. crushed red pepper flakes
1 small onion, sliced
1 small stalk celery, sliced
3 c. tomato puree
1 1/2 c. water
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 lemon, slices

How to make it:

Combine all the ingredients in a heavy pot and cook over low heat just until hot. Don’t bring to a boil or the sauce will turn dark and become thin.

Cool the sauce to room temperature, strain, and store in a tightly covered jar in the refrigerator.

Makes about 5 cups.

As much as I get around to parks and trails, I remain amazed by the diverse options for outdoor engagement found mere minutes for my home. Tilden has a bit of something for everyone: a little farm, steam trains, merry-go-round, botanic and native plant gardens, a golf course, many trails, and stunning views from every angle.

The fair weather meant fewer people with plenty of parking and space to spread out in the sand. We were greeted by Mr. and Mrs. Mallard and we found a nice open area where the kids could remain in easy view, but a lifeguard on duty in the summer months is a big plus.

After about an hour or so of going in and out of the water, the sun faded behind the eucalyptus and the chill of the afternoon could no longer be ignored. Just before leaving the park, we stopped at a vista where other visitors were perched to appreciate the stunning views of the San Francisco Bay that reminded us why we loved this place.

If you are in or near the East Bay Area, definitely consider a visit to Tilden Park. Check out their website for a complete list of activities that are mostly free.

What is your favorite place to go swimming in the summertime?

Outdoor Afro had the wonderful experience this past weekend to be a part of Outdoor Nation, a youth summit designed to reconnect America’s youth to the great outdoors and inform organizations of what youth care about most. This was also the first official listening session as a part of Obama’s Great Outdoors Conference this past spring.

The event began with a mixer Friday night sponsored by Backpacker Magazine. Leadership from The North Face, VF Outdoors (TNF parent company), The Natural Leaders Network (Children and Nature Network), New York Restoration Project, Student Conservation Association, Bay Area Wilderness Training, New York Parks Recreation, Sierra Club, American Hiking Society, and many others gathered on the rooftop of the Arsenal Building in Central Park. Everyone seemed to enjoy the warm summer sunset, great libation, and engaging conversation that expanded networks, considered the barriers of outdoor engagement, and anticipated the hundreds of youth set to arrive the following day.

Saturday’s events began at noon in the park and the public turnout was amazing! Thanks to much local publicity, many hundreds of people, including several families with children, came and participated in rock climbing, kayaking, trampoline jumping, and hoola-hooping, as part of a treasure hunt to engage with the activity vendors and the various orgs. Each interaction earned stamps in the event’s passport booklet to win prizes. I had a blast working with Kyle McDonald, CEO and founder of Bay Area Wilderness Training at The North Face Planet Explore table to share with the public how to use the social network to connect with regional and local organizations’ events and activities.

Later that afternoon was the official start of the Youth Summit in an outdoor tented area of the park. Nearly 600 youth from all over the Unites States came to town representing several organizations to share what they cared about related to the outdoors. About 35% of those youth were youth of color, many visiting New York City for the first time. Outdoor Afro connected with Brother Yusuf and his stunning youth group from Albany’s (NY) Green Tech High Charter School, Mickey Fearn, Deputy Director of the National Parks, and Bay Area friends Steve Hagler of the Stewardship Council, Zakiya Harris of Grind for the Green, Ernesto Pepito of the Crissy Field Center, and many others for an impromptu reunion.

After an introduction and welcome by event organizers and sponsors, such as North Face CEO Steve Rendle, the youth were divided into various organizational themes or “tracks” to help guide their brainstorming process. Themes such as Diversity, Health and Active Lifestyles, Media and Culture, Careers, Service, and Recreation/Education were matched with issue experts who helped guide conversations that revealed a depth of thought and sophistication these youth had when contemplating how they care to engage with the outdoors – or not. Importantly, ideas generated by these youth can help them to apply for the newly minted Explore Fund,  a $2,500 grant to spark and sustain outdoor youth participation where these kids live. The evening concluded with a youth pizza mixer at the North Face offices hosted by the Sierra Club and Juan Martinez and the Natural Leaders Network contingent.

The following morning, White House officials from the Department of the Interior, Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Labor and the National Parks facilitated the listening session to brainstorm answers to core questions; identify opportunities, and there were more in-depth track discussions to review and prioritize the top ideas of these sessions. Check out the Outdoor Nation website for more details about the conference outcomes.

It was a tremendous opportunity to hear youth voices, such as the African American young lady from environmentally impacted Bay View Hunters Point (San Francisco, CA) who lamented that she grew up thinking that asthma was normal because “every child in the community had it,” she said. With so much disheartening news related to the Gulf and its recovery, it was affirming to witness a return to the conversation of outdoor engagement among youth as one important step to help ensure a future of environmental recovery, sustainability, and justice.

A very special thanks to The North Face for making it possible for Outdoor Afro to take part in such an important and ground-breaking event.

Does this commercial inspire you to get outdoors? Tell me what you think!

Great job REI!

Photo courtesy of Tyson Simmons, who is pictured here with his sister at Colorado Bend State Park.