I have been working hard at taking action, but with all that is happening in the world, it often feels like I am throwing pebbles into the ocean trying to make the water rise.

I am reminding myself that I can throw pebbles, laugh, sing, and play -- all at the same time.

Please enjoy reading about some of my funny adventures that led to mini-lessons on a recent trip to Arizona.

Notes from a Beginning Birder: Chasing False Idols through the Woods

I was looking and listening for birds as I walked on a trail through a small patch of woods near my parents' assisted living facility. But every time I heard a bird call, their song would be drowned out by the thunderous rumbling of an overhead plane, the whirling, and whooshing of a car, or the banging of a hammer and grinding of a saw from a nearby construction site. While I knew there were birds in these trees, I was unlikely to hear them.

Then, much to my delight, perhaps only thirty feet in front of me, I spotted a pileated woodpecker perched on an old cedar tree. I couldn't believe my luck -- I was in a noisy city and seeing this beautiful woodpecker for the first time.

This is the first blog of Liz Melville’s “Notes from a Beginning Birder” series. She invites your thoughts and comments.

A Door has Opened

My new Merlin Bird Application that I downloaded onto my phone has opened a door to a whole new world for me. Birding, which before Merlin seemed too hard, is now exciting and accessible.

Slow Down, Slow Down, Slow Down.
by Liz Melville

This is my new mantra that I am committed to repeating this year. I wish to live at a pace that allows me to see the birds and the trees, and to be present for my loved ones. A hard ask for my ADD brain.

This Week’s Focus: Try to Buy and Give Extraordinary, Ordinary Presents
by Liz Melville

Every year I say, “I am going to buy less.” And most years, I still feel pressure to buy more. It is as if I need to prove my love to my family and friends. I worry that if I don’t do enough they will be disappointed or worse, feel like I don’t care.

Goal for over the holidays: Waste less food
by Liz Melville

Who wouldn't want a tidy, clean kitchen and an organized refrigerator? Who wouldn't want a plan for shopping, cooking, and meals? Who wouldn't want to avoid food waste?

These seem like simple, easy accomplishable goals. But for me, they are hard. I have had issues with organization and clutter for as long as I can remember. The back corners of my refrigerator often contain green, slimy things and odd items bought for special recipes. I save what I don’t want to eat until it is no longer edible and then throw it away.

Welcome to Small Change
by Liz Melville

This week, I am showcasing and celebrating the work of the Inland Northwest Land Conservancy (INLC), the Spokane Audubon Society (SAS), and the power created when organizations and individuals with shared values work together.

Most people have some kind of activities that they look forward to each winter. My wife, Bea, and I have enjoyed doing winter raptor surveys for several years. The Winter Raptor Survey Project, sponsored by the East Cascades Audubon Society based in Bend, Oregon has 450 volunteers doing driving surveys, counting hawks, eagles, falcons, and owls.

Once I made sure my pantry would always be stocked with bird-friendly coffee I turned my attention to other bird-friendly food products.  Along with wildlife, food and cooking are favorite interests of mine so why not continue my obsession with bringing bird friendly products into my kitchen?  Turn to bird-friendly maple syrup and other maple products.  Having spent my whole life on the West coast I’d never given much thought to where maple syrup comes from other than observing that the Canadian flag has a maple leaf on it. 

It started with my morning coffee. Following a recent discussion with a friend about how we would never let our money support deforestation, I started thinking more about what products actually do come from the rainforest. Growing up in California in the late 80’s I spent my adolescent years hearing about the destruction of the Amazon, begging my mom to buy Ben and Jerry’s Rainforest Crunch ice cream, and wishing I lived closer to a trendy new Rainforest Café. I thought I was an expert on rainforest preservation matters. I never purchased products sourced from endangered species, and quit eating McDonalds in high school after learning they were cutting down the rainforest to raise cattle. Surely not a cent of my money ever supported the destruction of the Amazon or any other rainforest. Or did it?

As members of the new Save-A-Bird team at Spokane Audubon, we knew just what to do when we got an urgent message from Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife.  There is an injured hawk in someone’s backyard in Spokane Valley.  Can someone help?