Black Birders Week 2024

 Black Birders Week 2024

     by Louise Ruggeri

If you’re looking for a way to recover from May warbler neck, but still want some bird-related fun and education, I recommend checking out Black Birders Week from May 26 — June 1. 

If you’ve never heard of it, Black Birders Week is a series of online and in-person events that highlight and celebrate Black birders, while also advocating for “diversity, equity and inclusion in the birding community” according to their website. 

It was conceived in 2020, in direct response to the May 25th “Central Park birding incident” involving Christian Cooper. I think we birders all remember this, but in case you don’t: this was when a white woman was charged with filing a false police report because she claimed that Cooper, a well known NYC birder and author, was “threatening” her life. In reality — which is clear in the footage he took with his phone — he only asked her to leash her dog in an area where off-leash dogs are not permitted. As Cooper himself put it, her behavior towards him was “unmistakably racist.” 

Troubled by this incident, an existing collective of Black STEM professionals, called BlackAFinStem, decided to take action. Just 4 days later, one of their members, Corina Newsome, officially introduced Black Birders week on Twitter, saying: 

For far too long, Black people in the United States have been shown that outdoor exploration activities, such as birding, are not for us. Whether it be because of the way the media chooses to present “who” is the outdoorsy type; or the racism experienced by Black people when we do explore the outdoors — as we saw recently in Central Park — we’ve decided to change that narrative.

That first year, I watched nearly every presentation and panel discussion, while also following the hashtags and posts on social media. I learned a lot from the participants, who openly shared their experiences of feeling vulnerable or targeted while birding because of their skin color. Also discussed was the lack of representation of Black nature enthusiasts in the media and in advertising. And there were a lot of calls to action to local and national birding organizations to make birding more inclusive and accessible.  

But it wasn’t all about this — there was also a real feeling of celebration. And, of course, as you usually get with a group of birders, there was a lot of discussions and geeking out over birds and bird sightings, as well as all the inevitable bird-nerd jokes that only bird-nerds get.

One of the things I was unaware of before that first Black Birders Week in 2020 was just how big the community of Black nature enthusiasts really is. Even the organizers were surprised by this. Corina Newsome said, in an interview on the ABA podcast that year, said that she cried when she saw the volume of posts on social media during the event because she had “never seen that many Black people…doing the thing that I love doing…”

New connections were made that first year too. When the week was over, people were encouraged to use the hashtag #becauseofblackbirdersweek on social media, to share how the event impacted them. The resounding sentiment was that people felt less alone, and more supported because of the event. My favorite post was from a woman who discovered that she was not the only Black hijabi birder here in the states. Another favorite was a post where someone wrote that “in 40 years of birding, I never thought I would see the day when I wasn’t the only black birder I knew.”

Each year’s events are loosely based around a theme. 2023 was centered around creativity and had fun programs, like the “takeover” they did of BirdNote Radio. 2021 celebrated Black birders around the world. Each day in the week also has its own theme and hashtag too, to encourage engagement online.

This year’s theme is “Wings of Justice: Soaring for Change” — which is a sort of throw back to the origins of the event. The week will start with master falconer Rodney Stots as a special guest speaker. You can keep up to date on the programming via the BlackAFinStem.com website & social media sites.  They’ve also partnered with Cornell, the National Audubon Society, the Smithsonian Institute — so keep an eye out for announcements from them as well.

How to bird Swan Point

 Swan Point Cemetery is unquestionably the best warbler location in northern Rhode Island. It has a large following and every single day in May there will be a group of people birding there. But if you are a new birder or want to make a trip from a different part of the state where to begin can be intimidating.

   First off, it is good to know that staff opens the pedestrian gate to birders at 7 am in May. This has been a very nice gesture for years and when I go, I always make sure to say thank you. Since only the pedestrian gate is open, you can't drive your car into the cemetery. You can park along Blackstone Blvd. Parking is on the right hand side and free. Obviously, you can drive your car in after gates open for normal visiting hours. If you arrive before 7 am there will be birders waiting at the gate and you may be able to tag along with them and make the entire rest of this article pointless.

   Next for the purpose of this article, you need to know directions. When you walk through the gate, if you were to walk straight down the road you are on, that is east. If you take a left at the first intersection that is north, and a right would be south. If you were to walk in a straight line as you walk into the cemetery you would come to the Seekonk River which does run north and south.

   The first place I usually go is the North Woods. To get there, take that first left and walk past the main building (it will be on your right). As you walk, you will see the woods on your left. Keep walking and you will see a couple of paths. The easiest of which to follow is at the extreme northwest corner of the cemetery. There are two parking places and directly in front of them is a path. If both parking places are taken, not to worry, you can park along any road, just pull off to the side.

   Before you enter the woods look up at the huge oaks. These oaks get hit with light early in the morning. This gets bug activity going which gets the birds feeding. I've seen many warblers up high in these trees including Blackburnian and Bay Breasted.

   The paths in the north woods aren't too complicated and you really can't get lost. After you walk down the path in front of the two parking spots, if you take the left path, you'll eventually end up back on the road you came down. If you take the paths on the right, they will take you through the woods to the right. At no point will you lose your sense of direction and the worst case scenario is you end up walking five minutes back to your car. All of these paths are good and I can't tell you where the rarity will be because it could be anywhere. Two years ago on different days, there was a Wilson's Warbler on a left path, and a Summer Tanager on the right. Take your time and follow Matt Schenck's advice and "bird every bird".

   If you take a right after entering the cemetery and follow the road on the right you will come to the Mausoleum. On your way there, you will see flowering trees. This is a very reliable spot for Orchard Oriole. Right before you get to the Mausoleum you will see a wide path going into the woods to your right. It is made of wood chips and I've heard it called the Wood Chip Path. Again, just pull off to the side if driving. Before you enter the woods, look at the trees on the other side of the street, Baltimore Orioles frequently are seen in them.

  The Wood Chip Path is short. Maybe fifty yards. The trees are tall and if you hit it right, full of singing warblers. Unfortunately, this is the prime example of "Warbler Neck". The birds are usually high up in these seventy foot oaks. Along the floor are some muddy areas on both sides. Keep an eye out for Northern Waterthrush. At the end of the path, if you take a left there are mulch corrals. To the right you will head out to the flowering trees in the cemetery that can have Orchard Orioles. Keep an eye out on this path for Swainson's Thrush.

   After you get back to the beginning of the Wood Chip Path, walk towards the Mausoleum with the woods on your right. This area is good for Yellow Warblers and the water can have Northern Waterthrush.

    Two other areas I'd like to quickly mention are the Seekonk River and the pond. To reach the river take a left at that first intersection and go all the way to the northwest corner. Now take a right and follow this road to the water. There will be a steep hill and a turn around at the bottom. You can park there. Walk down to the water and you may see Bald Eagles, Osprey, and I've seen a Peregrine on the chimney across the river. Check the gulls and ducks that are in the water. Near the end of the month, this area is great for Spotted Sandpiper at low tide. There is a trail off to the right that follows the water but be forewarned it is muddy. I've seen perched Eagles and many warbler species on this trail.

   The pond is in the middle of the cemetery. It is called Rock Pond and it would be impossible to describe the directions but you can easily see it and follow the directions if you Google "Swan Point Interactive map". Once you find it, just like everywhere else, park along the side. This little pond is cool. It has frogs, Red Eared Sliders, and goldfish. Around the pond I've seen many cool birds including Ruby Crowned Kinglets. Pine Siskins were hanging out at the birches one year. I always walk around this pond twice. Even if I don't see a good bird, I like that there is always something to look at.

   Other than Rock Pond, you may have noticed that all of the good birding is in the woods, along the edge of the woods, or the river. While these are the most popular spots, there can be birds in the cemetery. The size of the cemetery makes walking all the roads looking for birds impractical. If you drive around, you may find many warblers. Just last year a Yellow Throated Warbler was hanging around the east side of the cemetery. It had a favorite tree that it would fly into for a couple of days. I hope this helps anyone wanting to go to Swan Point but didn't know where to start. Good Luck and Good Birding!