Trip report by Joanna Chin

This Learning from the Land walk, organized by Nature Vancouver as part of the Vancouver Bird Celebration, brought together 27 participants for a morning of shared listening, observation, history, and natural history at Jericho Beach. LoriAnn Bird, Ryan Regier, and Joanna Chin each brought different perspectives to the walk. LoriAnn Bird shared knowledge as an Indigenous Métis herbalist, Ryan Regier brought his knowledge of trees and local history, and Joanna Chin guided participants through bird life and bird identification. Together, the three perspectives created a relationship-based walk grounded in listening, observation, and learning from the land.

There was a real buzz of excitement as we gathered on the bridge at the meeting location, meeting both familiar and new faces. I was grateful to be guiding alongside LoriAnn and Ryan — with such a large group, their presence, generosity, and knowledge helped create a welcoming and collaborative atmosphere throughout the walk.

We began with a simple but grounding exercise: closing our eyes and listening to birdsong. Too often we rely primarily on vision, but this was a reminder that we can experience and perceive the world through many senses. As we listened, LoriAnn gently offered a land acknowledgement, weaving place, relationship, and attention together from the very beginning. After we opened our eyes, we identified some of the bird vocalizations we had heard around the ponds.

Throughout the walk, we observed many of the birds and animals using the area, including Canada Geese with goslings, Wood Ducks, and a Cinnamon Teal spotted early in the morning by some participants. Swallows filled the air overhead, feeding on insects. We spent time comparing the different swallow species, including how to identify Barn Swallows by their long tail streamers, deep blue upperparts, and warm peachy underparts.

As we made occasional stops, Ryan shared the layered human history of Jericho, including stories about how the area got its name, while also helping participants learn to identify trees through bark, cones, leaves, and needles. Ryan also encouraged participants to identify a tree, learn to recognize it over time, and return to it — building familiarity and relationship through repeated encounters. LoriAnn interspersed the walk with generous teachings about relationality, observation, and care. She spoke about plantain and its medicinal uses, and reflected on how Himalayan blackberry cannot simply be understood as “invasive” when humans themselves introduced it here. While its thickets can be difficult to navigate, they also provide nesting habitat and food for birds and other wildlife. Again and again, LoriAnn reminded us not to rush too quickly toward intervention, but instead to spend time witnessing and observing the relationships already unfolding around us. Through careful attention, she encouraged us to better understand what is happening around us and how we might place ourselves back into the system rather than apart from it.

We also discussed the broader ecological impacts of rodenticides and how poisons intended for rats can move through food webs and harm owls and other birds of prey. LoriAnn shared how Steller’s Jays rely on acorns and offered thoughtful suggestions for native and bird-friendly plants that can provide food and habitat in urban backyards.

The walk ended with a special moment: two young Barred Owlets peering out from a cavity in an old tree. That sighting sparked further conversations about forests, habitat loss, and coexistence. Rather than using Barred Owls as a scapegoat for ecological decline, we reflected on the larger systems at play — including the ongoing loss of old-growth forests that many owl species and other birds depend upon to flourish.

More than anything, the morning was a reminder that birding and natural history can also be practices of listening, relationship, and learning how to pay closer attention to the living world around us.