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Birdgirl Blog Testing out an Outdoor Duvet I have been going birding all my life. My parents and older sister Ayesha were already passionate about birds and so I was taken out from when I was a baby. It is something that is an important part of my life. Birdwatching is intrinsic to my very [...]

Birdgirl Blog Birdgirl: A Young Environmentalist Looks to the Skies in Search of a Better Future Lots of you will already know that I’ve written a new book. Birdgirl is my story – one defined by my love of birds, which bring joy and stillness in difficult times. I also love Mick Manning's amazing  Harpy [...]

Birdgirl Blog Glastonbury Tour Black2Nature was invited to get a behind the scenes tour of Glastonbury festival whilst it was being set up. During the visit, we helped paint some of the collection bins used during the festival. The weather was great for the tour as the rain held off till we were leaving, so [...]

Birdgirl Blog Interviewed in Economic Injustice "Mya-Rose Craig tells the story of how she set up Black2Nature to help give young people in visible minority ethnic communities access to nature and tackle the lack of diversity in green spaces. She also talks about the climate emergency and the need for more urgent action." Find their [...]

Birdgirl Blog Day with Nadeem Perera On Board a Greenpeace Boat as an Ocean Ambassador Nadeem Perera visited the Operation Ocean Witness team in Newhaven, UK. Operation Ocean Witness is a six month Greenpeace UK operation, involving a new boat called Sea Beaver. The team will patrol the UK’s protected areas off the south coast [...]

Birdgirl Blog Why Access to Nature is a Social Justice Issue Emma Marsh the Director of RSPB England wrote this fantastic article about access to nature. https://ww3.rics.org/uk/en/journals/land-journal/why-access-to-nature-is-a-social-justice-issue-.html   About The Author Hi, I’m Dr. Mya-Rose Craig. I am a 19-year-old prominent British-Bangladeshi ornithologist, environmentalist, diversity activist as well as an author, speaker and broadcaster. At [...]

Birdgirl Blog We Have A Dream I am really proud to announce that my first book, published by Magic Cat. We Have a Dream: Meet 30 Young Indigenous People and People of Colour Protecting the Planet (Hardback)   by Dr Mya-Rose Craig Illustrated by Sabrena Khadij SHOP HERE   Description Indigenous people and people of colour are disproportionately affected [...]

Birdgirl Blog Posted on Wildlife and Countryside Link I posted a new blog on Wildlife and countryside Link's website. The title is 'Taking our future into our own hands' and it covers why I joined the Global Climate Strike and why it is so important that we don't take no for an answer. You can [...]

Birdgirl Blog About Mya-Rose Craig Young environmentalist and birder Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig Copyright Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig Young British Bangladeshi Dr Mya-Rose Craig AKA Birdgirl from the Chew Valley near Bristol is a prominent birder, naturalist, conservationist, environmentalist, race activist, writer, speaker and broadcaster, writing the Birdgirl Blog since January 2014 when she was 11 years old, which is [...]

Birdgirl Blog Black2Nature & me I am President of an organisation called Black2Nature, which I set up when I was 14 years old and is Visible Minority Ethnic (VME) led.  We campaign for equal access to nature for all, especially VME communities who are currently excluded from the countryside. We run nature camps,  arrange nature [...]

Birdgirl Blog The Adventures of Horatio Mowzl – Volume Three: ‘The Great Rising’ Review The Adventures of Horatio Mowzl  - Volume Three: ‘The Great Rising’ By Paul Thornycroft Book description:  I love these children's books and would highly recommend them for your children. "The Great Rising brings us to the dramatic climax of this, the third volume in the [...]

Birdgirl Blog Guest Blog by Clive Horlock – Educating Rain Child Educating Rain-child For Parents and Teachers concerned with the ‘Bigger Picture’ Rain-child belongs to a Bushmen clan in Botswana and was born during a Kalahari rainstorm, which is considered lucky, hence his name. Many friends who have joined me in the Kalahari for a [...]

Birdgirl Blog Leaders call on PM to create socially just and green recovery form Covid-19 Leaders call on Prime Minister to create socially just and green recovery from Covid-19 ● Richard Curtis CBE, Paul Polman, Michael Izza and leaders of more than 100 renowned companies, charities, universities, and trade associations call on the UK Government [...]

Birdgirl Blog The Best & Most Beautiful Hiking Adventures In McCormick, SC Few towns in the nation boast access to as many beautiful state parks as McCormick. The town is a paradise for hikers and anyone else interested in the Great Outdoors. So, grab your shoes for hiking and prepare yourself for some fantastic hiking adventures. McCormick [...]

Birdgirl Blog Guest Blog by The Wildlife Trusts & Jordon’s Cereals – Leave it Wild   Brits are urged to ‘leave it wild’ for International Biodiversity Day - Friday 22 May 2020.   Gardeners are told to put their feet up this bank holiday weekend to help wildlife. · Over one third of Brits (37%) [...]

Birdgirl Blog Panel Interview for Rob Hopkins at Transition Network Panel Interview for Rob Hopkins at Transition Network In May 2020 I did a panel interview with Rob Hoskins and Sam Lee. It was based on ‘From What If to What Next’ which asked listeners to send in their ‘What If’ questions about the future [...]

Birdgirl Blog Being published in Red Sixty Seven – Curated by Kit Jewitt & Published by the BTO This book is the idea of Kit Jewitt I am really proud to have written about Yellowhammer in this book, one that should not exist. Also thank you to Ben Woodhams for his beautiful artwork. Our bird [...]

Birdgirl Blog How to stop your kids driving you mad in lockdown: 26th April to 1st May 2020 This 2020 Coronavirus lockdown is really tough for everyone, restricting us to our homes, limiting us to accessing nature in our gardens or during walks. For many people, we have a garden we can sit in and [...]

Birdgirl Blog How to stop your kids driving you mad in lockdown – 21st to 25th April 2020 This 2020 Coronavirus lockdown is really tough for everyone, restricting us to our homes, limiting us to accessing nature in our gardens or during walks. For many people, we have a garden we can sit in and [...]

Birdgirl Blog How to stop your kids driving you mad in lockdown – 16th to 20th April 2020 This 2020 Coronavirus lockdown is really tough for everyone, restricting us to our homes, limiting us to accessing nature in our gardens or during walks. For many people, we have a garden we can sit in and [...]

Birdgirl Blog How to stop your kids driving you mad in lockdown – 11th to 15th April 2020 This 2020 Coronavirus lockdown is really tough for everyone, restricting us to our homes, limiting us to accessing nature in our gardens or during walks. For many people, we have a garden we can sit in and [...]

Birdgirl Blog How to stop your kids driving you made in lockdown – 6th to 10th April 2020 This 2020 Coronavirus lockdown is really tough for everyone, restricting us to our homes, limiting us to accessing nature in our gardens or during walks. For many people, we have a garden we can sit in and [...]

Birdgirl Blog BBC Radio 4’s Women’s Hour – a young female environmentalist BBC Radio 4's Women's Hour is an iconic radio programme listened to by huge numbers of women.  I recently had a friend's mum e-mail to say that I had been mentioned on the programme as an environmentalist to watch. I am feeling so pleased [...]

Birdgirl Blog How to stop your kids driving you mad in lockdown – 1st to 5th April 2020 This 2020 Coronavirus lockdown is really tough for everyone, restricting us to our homes, limiting us to accessing nature in our gardens or during walks. For many people, we have a garden we can sit in and [...]

Birdgirl Blog Bird food from Dorset Bird Feed Co A little while ago Dorset Bird Feed Co (https://www.dorsetbirdfeed.co.uk) sent me some samples of bird food to try in my garden. They are a specialist company that produces high-quality bird food in the UK supplied in 100% biodegradable packaging and so I was really interested in [...]

Birdgirl Blog Birdwatch Magazine – Birders Choice Awards 2019 Birdwatch Magazine's Birder's Choice Awards are the most prestigious in the UK. Back in 2015 I was nominated for the Blogger of the Year Awards and came second to the high profile conservationist (and ex-senior staff at the RSPB) I was really pleased with that, especially [...]

Birdgirl Blog Black2Nature Black2Nature is an organisation that was founded by Mya-Rose Craig AKA Birdgirl in September 2016. Contact details Helena Craig (Chair)helenabcraig@hotmail.co.uk Vision Delivering equal access to nature to the hugely under-represented VME demographic. Aims/Objectives Enjoy – Promote learning on how to enjoy nature. Demonstrate the offering of a range of activities/sports activities (not [...]

Birdgirl Blog My Nature writing – New Networks for Nature 2018 Nature writing is something that is really important to me. I have been writing creative work and poetry from a young age and used poetry therapy to help me through difficult times. In 2018 I wrote a piece of nature writing for a publication [...]

Birdgirl Blog Race Equality in Nature Conference 2019 Description The environmental & wildlife TV sector is the second least ethnically diverse sector in the UK, at 0.6% Visible Minority Ethnic (VME). Black2Nature and it's President 17 year-year-old Mya-Rose Craig AKA Birdgirl has been campaigning for 5 years to make the sector ethnically diverse so that [...]

Birdgirl Blog My Article in Resurgence and Ecologist Magazine This is an article I have written for Resurgence and Ecologist Magazine, about the racism within the nature conservation and environmental sector and the need for the sectors to become ethnically diverse. https://www.resurgence.org/magazine/article5422-calling-out-racisms-to-save-our-planet.html "If the environmental sector fails to become ethnically diverse, it fails to bring on board an [...]

Birdgirl Blog Camp Chew – Advance Bookings for July 2020 BLACK2NATURE CAMP CHEW Saturday to Sunday July 2019 I have been running camps for primary age children in the Chew Valley since 2017. I have had around 150 children attend since then and each one has gone home having had an amazing time, got connected [...]

Birdgirl Blog Camp Avalon – Advance bookings for July 2020 BLACK2NATURE Friday - Sunday July 2020 I have been running camps for teenagers on the Somerset Levels since 2016. I have had around 250 teenagers attend since then and each one has gone home having had an amazing time, got connected with nature and made [...]

Birdgirl Blog I Dreamt I Was a Butterfly – The Conservation Edition Copyright Chuck East Bristol-based Kickstarter photo book project - for every four books pledged one book will be donated to Butterfly Conservation. The first-ever photo book of butterflies photographed in flight is available now on Kickstarter, until the 22nd of October, and it's a Bristol-based [...]

Birdgirl Blog Delegate Pack – Race Equality in Nature: The Next Generation Black2Nature Conference A Summary of Black2Nature's previous conference – Race Equality in Nature 2016   Introduction The conference considered why there is inequality in access to nature by Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people by first identifying the barriers to BAME people [...]

Birdgirl Blog Race Equality In Nature: The Next Gen 13-30 – Speaker Biographies Speakers' Bio Councillor Asher Craig, Deputy Mayor of Bristol Asher has over 30 years experience as a community activist, leader, management consultant and now politician. She has championed the needs of the voiceless, with a particular emphasis on the social-economic development of [...]

Birdgirl Blog Race Equality in Nature: The Next Generation 13-30 Conference 2 Oct 2019 at UWE Camp Avalon 2019 The environmental & wildlife TV sector is the second least ethnically diverse sector in the UK, at 0.6% Visible Minority Ethnic (VME), only after gardening, employing a huge number of people around the country including many [...]

Birdgirl Blog Zero waste on the go – Guest blog from #WasteNothing Challenge In April this year, Bristol Waste Company launched the Bristol #WasteNothing Challenge. Fifty households, of all shapes and sizes, from across Bristol have signed up to try and reduce their waste and recycling down to zero over the course of a year. [...]

Birdgirl Blog Chatting to Lush I am really really pleased to be on Lush Player with Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig's Podcast which I am particularly excited about as Lush is my favourite shop and perfect for me as a teen vegetarian/almost vegan, environmentally friendly, low impact products that actually work and smell great too. Also, Lush is a Bristolian slang [...]

Birdgirl Blog Volunteering at Camp Chew 20-23 June 2019 Bio blitz Copyright Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig   Youth Worker at nature camp for teenagers from disadvantaged, VME or rural backgrounds. We desperately need volunteers from 20-23 June 2019 at Compton Martin & Chew Valley near Bristol. Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig Photocopyright Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig Camp Avalon 2017 [...]

Birdgirl Blog Camp Chew June 2019 Details BLACK2NATURE CAMP CHEW Friday 21 June 2019 to Saturday 22 June 2019 Camp Chew 2017 Copyright Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig Book onto this amazing nature camp for children aged 7-11 years. The camp is organised by Black2Nature who have been organising nature camps for inner-city Visible Minority Ethnic (VME) children and [...]

Birdgirl Blog Camp Chew June 2019 Flyer   Black2Nature Camp Chew 2019 - Fri 21 - Sat 22 Jun 2019 Camp Chew 2017 Copyright Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig A nature weekend for children aged 7 to 11, who will love Having fun outside in nature Using the outdoors to get fit & healthy Trying new things [...]

Birdgirl Blog Kit List Camp Chew 2019   CAMP CHEW KIT LIST Please note: This list is for guidance Please label everything with the child's name   General Small backpack to carry belongings (no large suitcases, large bags or plastic bags) Completed and signed parent consent forms Torch/phone with a torch (or this can be [...]

Birdgirl Blog Volunteering for Camp Avalon 12-14 & 19-21 July 2019 Bio blitz Copyright Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig Youth Worker at nature camp for teenagers from disadvantaged, VME or rural backgrounds. We desperately need volunteers from 11-15 and 18-22 July 2019 at Paddington Farm, Glastonbury. Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig Photo copyright Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig Camp Avalon 2011 [...]

Birdgirl Blog Podcast “all about me” for The Sound Approach by Charlie Moores  Young environmentalist and birder Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig This is a podcast that I did for Charlie Moores from The Sound Approach (TSA) podcast. I am talking about birding in the UK, world birding, Race Equality in Nature, racism, twitter trolls and being [...]

Birdgirl Blog Camp Avalon Kit List CAMP AVALON KIT LIST Please label everything with the child's name Please note Please do not send your teenagers with any food (it will be taken away), duvets, sleeping bags, pillow or cushions. We will provide sufficient food and snacks, have to be careful of allergies and do not want [...]

Birdgirl Blog Camp Avalon 19-21 July 2019 Flyer Black2Nature Camp Avalon 2019 Fri 19 - Sun 21 July 2019 Camp Avalon 2017 Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig A nature weekend for teenagers aged 12 to 18 to enjoy Having fun outside in nature Trying new things like camping Making new friends   How to Book [...]

Birdgirl Blog Camp Avalon 12-14 July 2019 Flyer Black2Nature Camp Avalon 2019 Fri 12 - Sun 14 July 2019 Camp Avalon 2017 Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig A nature weekend for teenagers aged 12 to 18 to enjoy Having fun outside in nature Trying new things like camping Making new friends   How to Book [...]

Birdgirl Blog BME in STEM – A Bristol University Report 2019 Copyright BME in STEM Report On 6th February 2019, Black2Nature attended a conference at Bristol University, BME in STEM organised by a first-year PhD student, Lara Lalemi Lara Lalemi opening at BME in STEM Conference Panel Copyright BME in STEM Report The report produced [...]

Birdgirl Blog Become an expert packer for birding trips This is an article that I contributed to for the Mighty Goods website in the USA with 4 birders writing about how we prepare and pack for birding trips One of them is Bill Thompson III who has sadly since died. The other two contributers are [...]

Birdgirl Blog Bird Cottage by Eva Meijer I was intrigued by this remarkable story that the author, Eva Meijer, dug up a few years ago about one fascinating – and almost entirely forgotten – a woman who was way ahead of her time when she published her revolutionary findings on bird behaviour. I wanted to [...]

Birdgirl Blog Sexism in nature I wrote this post last September after Chris Packham published his fantastic People's Manifesto for Wildlife and the people's Walk for Wildlife that followed. It was the time that I thought female naturalists should have stood up together against sexism and so I felt it was a good day to [...]

Birdgirl Blog Why the Bristol BME Powerlist matters Source from Bristol SU "Bristol’s inaugural BME Powerlist showcases the city’s 100 most inspiring, successful and influential black and minority ethnic people. Published on Monday, October 1 to mark the beginning of Black History Month, the project aims to celebrate excellence across a broad spectrum of fields – from [...]

Birdgirl Blog Where the River Runs Gold by Sita Brahmachari   This is a wonderful inter-generational book about a pair of 11 year olds set in the future where children have to work on farms as we have lost our bees.  This book is suitable for all generations will character across age ranges. I love [...]

Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig Copyright “Too Much of a Person” toomuchofaperson.com   This was a project that I took part in Too much of a person curated by Diana Patient, the founder and creative director. I was really privileged to take part in this project, which empowered me so much as a young girl and one […]

Birdgirl Blog Teen Backchat The April edition of Birdwatching Magazine had a full page article called "Backchat with Mya-Rose Craig" with some quick fire fun question and answers. This is the online full version Birdwatching Magazine Article   Hope you enjoy it! About The Author Hi, I’m Dr. Mya-Rose Craig. I am a 19-year-old prominent [...]

Birdgirl Blog A must read for children & adults – The Adventures of Horatio Mowzl – First Purlings A must-read for children and young adults –– The Adventures of Horatio Mowzl    A trilogy of illustrated novels by Paul Thornycroft    Volume Two: ‘First Purlings’      Copyright Paul Thornycroft   Children –– you ARE [...]

Birdgirl Blog The impact of Bristol Airport expansion plans Our video plea to Ontario Teachers about the impact of Bristol Airport expansion plans ‘Your retirement income will cost us our health, our well-being and our environment. Are you happy with this?’ Mya-Rose Craig AKA Birdgirl   Working with the Stop Bristol Airport Expansion Alliance, myself [...]

Birdgirl Blog Supporting The Climate Strikes Young environmentalist and birder Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig at the #YouthStikes4Climate in Bristol Copyright Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig   Guest blog by Henry Greenwood, Green Schools Project     Since waking up to the reality of climate change in 2007 when watching Al Gore’s ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ I always thought of it as [...]

Birdgirl Blog Fantastic reasons to #YouthStrikes4Climate Young environmentalist and birder Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig at the #YouthStikes4Climate in Bristol Copyright Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig Young environmentalist and birder Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig at the #YouthStikes4Climate in Bristol Copyright Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig This is a letter I sent to New Statesman, of which part was published on 15 March 2019. My [...]

Birdgirl Blog 5000 birds around the world in 16 years Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig birding Castillo de Loarre, SpainCopyright Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig The main reason we were going anywhere in February half term 2019 was to go to Spain to practise my Spanish as I hadn’t been able to go on the school trip. We weren’t expecting [...]

Birdgirl Blog Camp Chew March 2019 Details BLACK2NATURE  CAMP CHEW   Friday 29 March 2019 to Saturday 30 March 2019 Camp Chew 2017 Copyright Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig   Book onto this amazing nature camp for children aged 7-11 years. The camp is organised by Black2Nature who have been organising nature camps for inner-city Visible Minority Ethnic (VME) [...]

Birdgirl Blog Lost Dreams? This is an animated film made by Zombie Studio for the 2016 Wildlife Conservation Film Festival. Where has it been for the last 3 years? 320K likes of Vimeo, that's where. Although this film is gooey, with "cute" animals taking on a human voice, it is what's needed to get people [...]

Birdgirl Blog Camp Chew March 2019 Flyer Black2Nature Camp Chew 2019 - Fri 29 - Sat 30 Mar 2019 Camp Chew 2017 Copyright Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig   A nature weekend for children aged 7 to 11, who will love: Having fun outside in nature Using the outdoors to get active & improve wellbeing Trying new [...]

Birdgirl Blog A must read for children – The Adventure of Horatio Mowzl The Adventures of Horatio Mowzl is a trilogy of illustrated novels for children and young adults by the brilliant Paul Thornycroft Volume One:  “Little Humans” Children –– change the World! Mya-Rose Craig interviews the author, Paul Thornycroft   Mya-Rose: What are your [...]

Birdgirl Blog Race Equality in Nature & Conservation and Black2Nature Chris Packham's Peoples Walk for Nature is this Saturday 22nd September 2018, meeting in Hyde Park, London at 10 am with speakers starting at midday and the march between 1 pm and 2 pm. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbQDEb6QX6g&feature=youtu.be Today, Chris Packham has published "The Peoples' Manifesto for Wildlife" with [...]

Birdgirl Blog Madagascar Post 6 – Days 21 – 26   Our birding trip was organised by Madagascar Tour Guide (madagascar.tour.guide@gmail.com), who was really well organised. Our guide for most of the trip was Julian, who was brilliant at digging the birds as well as sorting things out for us along the way. The company [...]

Birdgirl Blog Madagascar Post 5 – Days 16 – 20   Our birding trip was organised by Madagascar Tour Guide (madagascar.tour.guide@gmail.com), who was really well organised. Our guide for most of the trip was Julian, who was brilliant at digging the birds as well as sorting things out for us along the way. The company [...]

Birdgirl Blog Madagascar Post 4 – Days 15 – 20 Our birding trip was organised by Madagascar Tour Guide (madagascar.tour.guide@gmail.com), who was really well organised. Our guide for most of the trip was Julian, who was brilliant at digging the birds as well as sorting things out for us along the way. The company is [...]

Birdgirl Blog Madagascar Post 3 – Days 10 – 14 Our birding trip was organised by Madagascar Tour Guide (madagascar.tour.guide@gmail.com), who was really well organised. Our guide for most of the trip was Julian, who was brilliant at digging the birds as well as sorting things out for us along the way. The company is [...]

Birdgirl Blog Madagascar Post 2 – Days 6 – 9 Our birding trip was organised by Madagascar Tour Guide (madagascar.tour.guide@gmail.com), who was really well organised. Our guide for most of the trip was Julian, who was brilliant at digging the birds as well as sorting things out for us along the way. The company is [...]

Birdgirl Blog In the last footsteps of Phoebe Snetsinger – Madagascar Post 1 – Days 1 – 5 Our birding trip was organised by Madagascar Tour Guide (madagascar.tour.guide@gmail.com), who was really well organised. Our guide for most of the trip was Julian, who was brilliant at digging out the birds as well as sorting things [...]

Birdgirl Blog Kenya post 2 – Day 18 Due to my GCSE exams, I had an especially long summer holiday this year and my family and I decided to take full advantage of this by going to Tanzania for three weeks, Madagascar for 4 weeks, and with a three-week school trip to Kenya wedged between [...]

Birdgirl Blog Kenya Blog Post 1 – Days 1-2   Due to my GCSE exams, I had an especially long summer holiday this year and my family and I decided to take full advantage of this by going to Tanzania for three weeks, Madagascar for 4 weeks, and with a three week school trip to [...]

Birdgirl Blog Birding in Tanzania Blog – Days 20-23 Due to my GCSE exams, I had an especially long summer holiday this year and my family and I decided to take full advantage of this by going to Tanzania for three weeks, Madagascar for 4 weeks, and with a three week school trip to Kenya [...]

Birdgirl Blog Birding in Tanzania Blog – Days 16 – 19 Due to my GCSE exams, I had an especially long summer holiday this year and my family and I decided to take full advantage of this by going to Tanzania for three weeks, Madagascar for 4 weeks, and with a three week school trip [...]

Birdgirl Blog Birding in Tanzania Blog – Days 12 – 15 Due to my GCSE exams, I had an especially long summer holiday this year and my family and I decided to take full advantage of this by going to Tanzania for three weeks, Madagascar for 4 weeks, and with a three week school trip [...]

Birdgirl Blog Birding in Tanzania Blog Post 3 – Days 8 -11 Due to my GCSE exams, I had an especially long summer holiday this year and my family and I decided to take full advantage of this by going to Tanzania for three weeks, Madagascar for 4 weeks, and with a three week school [...]

Birdgirl Blog Birding in Tanzania Blog – Day 4 – 7 Due to my GCSE exams, I had an especially long summer holiday this year and my family and I decided to take full advantage of this by going to Tanzania for three weeks, Madagascar for 4 weeks, and with a three week school trip [...]

Birdgirl Blog Birding in Tanzania – Days 1 – 4 Due to my GCSE exams, I had an especially long summer holiday this year and my family and I decided to take full advantage of this by going to Tanzania for three weeks, Madagascar for 4 weeks, and with a three week school trip to [...]

Birdgirl Blog Article in The Guardian 2018 I was enormously honoured to be interviewed for an article in The Guardian 2018 looking at diversity in nature by Stephen Moss and to influence his findings as well introducing him to VME nature writer Zakiya MacKenzie. The Guardian Improving children's access to nature and addressing inequality I [...]

Birdgirl Blog Interview on ITV West News – age 11 year old When I was 11 years old, I saw my 3000th bird species in the world. It was a stunning Regent Bowerbird which I saw on my second day in Queensland, Australia at Lamington National Park in July 2013. I had spent 6 months [...]

Birdgirl Blog An art project that directly greenifies the planet by artist Margarita Mitrovic Make 100 Trees is the latest project by London-based designer-artist Margarita Mitrovic. The concept of the project is to make 100 artworks of trees, which will directly fund the planting of 100 real trees. By depicting each tree in a different [...]

Birdgirl Blog Ringing a Wood Pigeon – my first adult ringed Last Saturday, 10th February 2018, I was busy revising for my GCSE exams. The weather was pretty bad and so Dad and I had not gone to the ringing station. Dad had put some foods out in a trap, as usual, to see if [...]

Birdgirl Blog Arctic Warbler twitch – Kilnsea 14 October 2017 Having got back from an after school twitch to see a Rock Thrush the day before at 9 pm, I was straight to bed.  The next day was a Saturday and I had another bird to see! Arctic Warbler is a non-rarity in the UK but is one of only [...]

Birdgirl Blog Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush twitch 13 October 2017 Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush 30 October 2017 Photograph taken by and copyright Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig There are some days that stand out in terms of how lucky I am to have the parents I do - obsessed with birds as much as me but still prepared to [...]

Birdgirl Blog Cedar Waxwing twitch – St Agnes, Isles of Scilly 7 October 2017 Cedar Waxwing twitch, Isles of Scilly 7 October 2017 Photograph copyright Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig During the week, we heard the news that a Cedar Waxwing had been found on St Agnes on the Isles of Scilly. This is part of a [...]

Birdgirl Blog Silent Roars – A short film on BBCFour Copyright BBCFour https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-the-silent-roars-2017-online Watch me tonight in this amazing short film, talking about the Islamaphobic bullying I get on social media. Fantastic to be in the film with Munroe Bergdorf, the Black transgender model recently sacked by L'Oreal for her honest views on racism and [...]

Birdgirl Blog Indonesia Trip 2017 Day 20 Indonesia Trip Day 20 Thursday 10th August 2017 Halmahera with Mike Nelson from Bird Tour Asia. The third part of our 6-week Indonesian trip was birding the island of Sulawesi again. On the morning of Thursday 10th August 2017, we had our breakfast at 3 30 am for [...]

Birdgirl Blog Indonesia Trip 2017 Day 19 Indonesia Trip Day 19 - Wednesday 9th August 2017 Halmahera with Mike Nelson from Bird Tour Asia. The second part of our 6-week Indonesian trip was birding the island of Halmahera. On the morning of Wednesday 9th August 2017, we had to have our bags packed to leave [...]

Birdgirl Blog Indonesia Trip 2017 Day 18 Indonesia Trip Day 18 - Tuesday 8th August 2017 Halmahera with Mike Nelson from Bird Tour Asia. The second part of our 6-week Indonesian trip was birding the island of Halmahera. Today we were in South East  Halmahera in the mountains near the city of Weda. We had [...]

Birdgirl Blog Indonesia Trip 2017 Day 17 Indonesia Trip Day 17 - Monday 7th August 2017 Halmahera with Mike Nelson from Bird Tour Asia. The second part of our 6-week Indonesian trip was birding the island of Halmahera. Today we were in South East  Halmahera in the mountains near the city of Weda. We had [...]

Birdgirl Blog Indonesia Trip 2017 Day 16 Indonesia Trip Day 16 - Sunday 6th August 2017 Halmahera with Mike Nelson from Bird Tour Asia. The second part of our 6-week Indonesian trip was birding the island of Halmahera. Today we were in South East  Halmahera in the mountains near the city of Weda. We had [...]

Birdgirl Blog Indonesia Trip 2017 Day 14 Indonesia Trip Day 14 - Friday 4th August 2017 Sulawesi with Mike Nelson from Bird Tour Asia. The first part of our 6-week Indonesian trip was birding the island of Sulawesi. Today we were in northern Sulawesi. On the morning of Friday  4th, August 2017 we left the [...]

Birdgirl Blog Indonesie Trip 2017 Day 13 Indonesia Trip Day 13 - Thursday 3rd August 2017Sulawesi with Mike Nelson from Bird Tour Asia. The first part of our 6-week Indonesian trip was birding the island of Sulawesi. Today we were in northern Sulawesi. On the morning of Thursday 3rd, August 2017 we left the Patra [...]

Birdgirl Blog Indonesia Trip 2017 Day 12 Indonesia Trip Day 12 - Wednesday 2nd August 2017 Sulawesi with Mike Nelson from Bird Tour Asia. The first part of our 6-week Indonesian trip was birding the island of Sulawesi. Today we were in northern Sulawesi. On the morning of Wednesday 2nd, August 2017 we left the [...]

Birdgirl Blog Indonesia Trip 2017 Day 11 Indonesia Trip Day 11 - Tuesday 1st August 2017 Sulawesi with Mike Nelson from Bird Tour Asia. The first part of our 6 week Indonesian trip was birding the island of Sulawesi.  On the morning of Tuesday 1st August 2017 we left the Patra Jasa Hotel in Kotamobagu [...]

Birdgirl Blog Indonesia Trip 2017 Day 9 & 10 Indonesia Trip Day 9 & 10 - Sunday 30th July 2017 and Monday 31st July 2017 Sulawesi with Mike Nelson from Bird Tour Asia. The first part of our 6-week Indonesian trip was birding the island of Sulawesi.  On the morning of Sunday 30th, July we [...]

Birdgirl Blog Indonesia Trip 2017 Day 8 Indonesia Trip Day 8 - Saturday 29th July 2017 Sulawesi with Mike Nelson from Bird Tour Asia. The first part of our 6-week Indonesian trip was birding the island of Sulawesi. On the morning of Saturday 29th July, we left Sendy Guesthouse at 5.00 am to bird Lore [...]

Birdgirl Blog Indonesia Trip 2017 Day 7 Indonesia Trip Day 7 - Friday 28th July 2017 Sulawesi with Mike Nelson from Bird Tour Asia. The first part of our 6-week Indonesian trip was birding the island of Sulawesi. In the morning, we left Sendy Guesthouse to bird the world-famous Lora Lindu National Park in the [...]

Birdgirl Blog Indonesia Trip 2017 Day 6 Indonesia Trip Day 6 - Thursday 27th July 2017 Sulawesi with Mike Nelson from Bird Tour Asia. The first part of our 6 week Indonesian trip was birding the island of Sulawesi.  In the morning of Thursday 27th July we left Sendy Guesthouse to bird the world famous [...]

Birdgirl Blog Indonesia Trip 2017 Day 5 Indonesia Trip Day 5 - Wednesday 26th July 2017 Sulawesi with Mike Nelson from Bird Tour Asia. The first part of our 6 week Indonesian trip was birding the island of Sulawesi. In the morning of Wednesday 26th July we left the hotel in Makassar at 5 am [...]

Birdgirl Blog Indonesia Trip 2017 Day 4 Indonesia Trip Day 4 - Tuesday 25th July 2017 Sulawesi with Mike Nelson from Bird Tour Asia. The first part of our 6-week Indonesian trip was birding the island of Sulawesi. The morning of Tuesday 25th July we started out at 4.30 am from the town of Malino [...]

Birdgirl Blog Indonesia Trip 2017 Day 3 Indonesia Trip Day 3 - Monday 24th July 2017 Sulawesi with Mike Nelson from Bird Tour Asia. The first part of our 6-week Indonesian trip was birding the island of Sulawesi. We started our trip from the southern city of Makassar. Our first day of birding on Monday [...]

Birdgirl Blog Indonesia Trip 2017 days 1 & 2 – 22 to 23 July 2017 Indonesia Trip Day 1 & 2 Saturday 22 July 2017 to Sunday 23 July 2017 My new binoculars and telescope arrived, on loan from Leica, just in time for our trip which was amazing. I finished school early at 12.15 [...]

Birdgirl Blog Cultures of Nature and Wellbeing Conference with Bristol Festival of Nature on 13 June 2017 On Tuesday 13 June 2017 at the Watershed in Bristol, I was a speaker in a panel at a one-day conference organised by Bath Spa University with The Bristol Festival of Nature. I spoke about Camp Avalon, Race [...]

Birdgirl Blog Film-making Workshop using the outdoors Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig's Camp Avalon 2015 Birdigirl Mya-Rose Craig filming for BBC4 I have organised with Black2Nature, in partnership with BBC Natural History Unit, Icon Films and young filmmaker Paul Collins an exciting film-making workshop with a focus on group work and outdoor filming. It is aimed at [...]

Birdgirl Blog Vote NO to Conservatives bringing back barbaric hunting with dogs I am sure you are aware that we have a general election on 6 June 2017. Teresa May has announced that if she forms the next government she will have a free vote on bringing back hunting with dogs. This would make it legal [...]

Birdgirl Blog Being on BBC Radio 4’s Tweet of the Day – Wed 17 May 2017 On Wednesday 17th May 2017 at 5.58 am GMT I was on Radio 4 'Tweet of the Day'. Listen to it on IPlayer  on http://bbc.in/2r3ZYNc. I talked about seeing a Black-browed Albatross in Cornwall when I was only 7 [...]

Birdgirl Blog Ringing a Tawny Owl Pulli (Chick) on 11 May 2017 I know that I am really lucky to live in a beautiful place near Chew Valley Lake, South of Bristol, surrounded by nature and wildlife and having parents that are so interested in birds and who have so much to teach me. My [...]

Birdgirl Blog Talk at Bath Spa University, College of Liberal Arts On the 8th of May 2017, I went right from school to speak at Bath Spa University at their College of Liberal Arts, at the end of their Nature and Wellbeing Conference. I talked about Camp Avalon, my Race Equality in Nature Conference and [...]

Birdgirl Blog BTO Nest Recording Scheme (NRS) – surveying nests for research This is the second year I have been taking part in the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) Nest Recording Scheme (NRS), surveying the 35 nest boxes that I am responsible for checking on the shores of Chew Valley Lake. You have to survey [...]

Birdgirl Blog Interview for BBC Radio 4 “You and Yours” Young Birder Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig in her garden Photograph taken by and copyright Chris Craig During the Easter holidays, I was contacted by a journalist, Jess Quayle, from the 'You and Yours' consumer programme from Radio 4. They were planning a feature about the number [...]

Birdgirl Blog Chosen as one of the world’s best birding blogs of 2017 I love writing my blog, that's why I do it. I like writing about anything I want to. It is amazing that lots of people around the world like to read it and that my blog is coming up to 2 million [...]

Birdgirl Blog Eastern Subalpine Twitch at Portland Bill, Dorset on 1 May 2017 What I love most in my life is world birding. I love the thrill of hardcore birding every day for 4 to 6 weeks, looking for targeted birds each day or place. Knowing that if you miss any of your endemic targets, [...]

Birdgirl Blog Keynsham Kindness Day 24 April 2017 After giving a talk in Avon Wildlife Group Keynsham Group in January, I was contacted by quite a few people from Keynsham who wanted me to get involved in their event. One of these was attending a Keynsham Kindness Day event on 24/4/17. I was going to [...]

Birdgirl Blog South West Metropolitan Mayor Elections 4 May 2017 – the relevance to the environment On 4th May 2017, people in Bristol, South Gloucestershire, Bath & North East Somerset Council areas will be voting for a new West of England Metro Mayor. Whether you agree with the creation of another layer of bureaucracy or [...]

Birdgirl Blog Interview with University of West of England first year journalism student Tamara Toothill In March I did an interview for a University of West of England (UWE) first year journalism student, Tamara Toothill, for her end of year project. I always like to give time to students as I hope that when I [...]

Birdgirl Blog Speaking at a TEDx Conference Sometimes things come along that you have to say yes to straight away. I have done almost 40 talks about nature, birding, conservation and Black2Nature or different combinations. When I was asked to be a speaker at a Ted Conference, it was different. These are talks that are up [...]

Birdgirl Blog Birding around my village in the Chew Valley A few weeks ago I went on a village walk around where I live. It was arranged by the Parish Council, which my Dad, Chris Craig, is an elected member. It was the same day as the Tedx Talk that I did and was great [...]

Birdgirl Blog Ringing another Marsh Tit in my Garden on 30 March 2017 On Thursday evening, I did some ringing in the garden. My Dad, Chris Craig, and I had seen a Marsh Tit flying in and out of the garden, coming to our feeders and hoped that we might be able to have a [...]

Birdgirl Blog The Charter for woods, trees and people – Being a Charter Champion Woodland Wonder Everyone loves trees right? They are beautiful, stunning, ancient, environmentally essential and take minutes to destroy hundreds of years of growth. I live next to woods which are beautiful, old and home to special birds such as March Tit [...]

Birdgirl Blog Giving a talk at Timsbury Nats Last night, on Monday 20 March 2017, I did my second talk at Timsbury Nats called Born to Bird: Antarctica and Beyond. They are on the other side of the Chew Valley, where I live. My ringing trainer Mike Bailey lives there and is involved in the group. They are such a lovely [...]

Birdgirl Blog The dark side to John Muir – Mendip AONB Young Rangers at Chew Valley Ringing Station In June 2015, I signed up for the Mendip Area of Outstanding Beauty (AONB) Young Rangers programme. I found out about it the previous year at the Chew Valley Bird-fair, but they only recruited every two years and so [...]

Birdgirl Blog British Red Squirrel – A Guest blog This is a great guest blog by local-to-the-South West charity British Red Squirrel (this is their Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/BritishRedSquirrel/. If you are not already aware, British Red Squirrels are at risk of extinction and so the charity wants to protect red squirrels and assist in their [...]

Birdgirl Blog Being the Friends of the Earth Magazine Earth Matters’ Front Cover Last December, Friends of the Earth UK asked me if I would be interviewed for their magazine. I do quite a few interviews so said yes, thinking nothing of it. The following week, Friends of the Earth asked if their photographer could [...]

Birdgirl Blog ‘The Lady of the Lakes’ – A conservation story to empower women by Olivia Frost ‘The Lady of the Lakes’ – A conservation story to empower women All my life I’ve loved nature; to me, conservation has always seemed like an obvious and necessary route to pursue. However, when thinking about when this [...]

Birdgirl Blog Speaking at the Bath Spa University Landscape and Change Festival On 25 February 2017, I was on a panel speaking at the Bath Spa University English Department one day micro-fest Conference, Landscape and Change Festival. The conference was made up of lots of different academics and artists, such as poets and writers from [...]

Birdgirl Blog Facing Islamophobic trolls Young birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig As many people know, as well as blogging I am active on social media with a Facebook Page and Twitter, to talk about what I care about. I am open about being British Bangladeshi combined with my Dad's British heritage. I post a lot about [...]

Birdgirl Blog Horus the Peregrine Falcon and series of books I was given a copy of this book by John Miles and absolutely loved it. If I’d had a book like this as a younger child, I would have been so happy with it. I do appreciate that not every child is as obsessed with [...]

Birdgirl Blog Article in Cultures of Nature and Wellbeing This is an article by Samantha Walton at Bath Spa University about my Camp Avalon weekend camps for young naturalists and BAME young people, Race Equality in Nature Conference in June 2016, Black2Nature and the Green and Black project in Bristol all working to getting more [...]

Birdgirl Blog A Lake District Winter Birdwatching Guide by Jenny Mayer A Guest Blog by Jenny Mayer A Lake District Winter Birdwatching Guide  There is nothing so recreational or fascinating like Birdwatching. Ask any Birder, or precisely a Bird-Watcher and he will testify the pleasure & happiness the Birding bequeaths. Green forests with chirping colorful [...]

Birdgirl Blog Minority Ethnic peoples’ rural heritage Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig with Mrs M and her granddaughter An issue that I feel strongly about is getting Minority Ethnic people out into nature whether it's in an inner-city park or a rural nature reserve. As I see it, nature and conservation are almost completely white and [...]

Birdgirl Blog Women March and sexism in birding Today we saw millions of people march in the USA, London and across the world in #WomensMarch to protest again Donald Trump bring the 45th President of the USA due to his disgusting, derogatory and dehumanising comments against women and his racism. This is a day that [...]

Birdgirl Blog Stejnegar’s Stonechat at Dungeness, Kent This Stonechat species had been at Dungeness, Kent for over a month and finally we couldn't ignore it any longer. DNA results had confirmed that it was in fact a female Stejnegar's Stonechat from Asia.  As such it would be one of a few records of this species [...]

Birdgirl Blog Speaking at Association of Science (ASE) Educators Conference 2017 Today was a really interesting day, as I did a one hour talk at the Association of Science Educations (ASE) Conference 2017 at Reading University.  The ASE is a membership organisation for Science teachers and I spoke to those teaching pupils aged 11-18 years. [...]

Birdgirl Blog Pine Bunting in Shropshire Today was a fantastic start to the birding year. I saw a Pine Bunting from Eastern Europe near Shrewsbury, Shropshire. It was freezing cold and I had to wait 3 hours before I eventually saw the bird well but only for a few minutes. We waited another hour in [...]

Birdgirl Blog Amazing and Inspiring People I Met in 2016 Sir David Attenborough with young birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig Copyright RSPB 2016 has been an amazing year for me. As well as blogging, writing articles and campaigning on social media, my posts about sexism in nature and nature conservation went mad with 25,000 views. The [...]

Birdgirl Blog My Preloved Clothes and the Impact of Fashion In June 2016 I wrote an article for New Internationalist Magazine about the impact of fashion on the environment. Greenpeace shared my article on their website, which got 500 likes. The link to my blog post is http://birdgirluk.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/my-article-in-new-internationalist.html I have made a fun video montage [...]

Birdgirl Blog White-tailed Eagle – An incredible Garden Bird Friday 28th October 2016 was the most amazing day for me as a Compton Martin birder in the Chew Valley. It was the half-term school holidays and I was hanging around at home hoping for a rare bird to turn up somewhere in the country. Little [...]

Birdgirl Blog Blue Rock Thrush Yesterday, as we were visiting a relative, news came over of a Blue Rock Thrush which is widespread in Europe and Asia. As soon as we were in the car, I got as much information as possible. As sometimes can happen, twitchers can turn against a bird. First, it had [...]

Birdgirl Blog Eastern Black Redstart – A Christmas Twitch The best kind of twitches is when you get to see a really good bird close to where you are going anyway. On 24th December 2016, I saw an Eastern Black Redstart on Christmas Eve close to my grandmother's house in North Yorkshire at Skinningrove on [...]

Birdgirl Blog Blyth’s Pipit at Blagdon Lake On 21 December 2016, a bird that had been around a day or two locally was identified as a very rare Blyth's Pipit. They can be confused with juvenile Tawny or Richard's pipits so had taken a couple of days to pin down the identification. It was already [...]

Birdgirl Blog White Wagtail in Pembrokeshire On Saturday 3rd December we travelled to the small village of Camrose in Pembrokeshire to see the UK's first Masked Wagtail from Central Asia. It is a split from White Wagtail, is a small passerine bird with a white face and is usually found in Kazakstan, Iran and Afghanistan [...]

Birdgirl Blog Interview on BBC Points West News On Thursday 1st December 2016 I did a live interview on BBC Radio Bristol breakfast show about Black2Nature, my Race Equality in Nature Conference and getting ethnic Minority people out into nature. That morning and evening, BBC1 Points West News also showed an interview with me about [...]

Birdgirl Blog Forster’s Tern, Essex On Sunday 20 November 2016 we travelled to Mistley Quay in Essex to see a Forster's Tern. The bird had been seen the afternoon before, but we were due to see Mike Dilger speak at the Somerset Wildlife Trust AGM and so had to wait. We turned up to the site to [...]

Birdgirl Blog RSPB & Cairngorms Nature Young Presenter Competition 2016 In October 2016, I entered a competition run by the RSPB and Cairngorms Nature which was a young presenter competition. This is my film http://bit.ly/2eftRmj I wanted to be different from the usual films on badgers and foxes and also wanted to do something educational about birds. When [...]

Birdgirl Blog Interview on Bristol’s Ujima Radio Recently, I did a radio interview with John Kennington at inner city Ujima Radio for their programme of Minority Ethnic elders. I talked about Black2Nature, about how the majority of Minority Ethnic old people were born "back home" in rural places where they were able to play outside [...]

Birdgirl Blog Black2Nature in The Wildlife Trusts’ Magazines In November 2017, an article that I wrote about my Race Equality in Nature Conference and my Black2Nature project appeared in The Wildlife Trusts Winter Magazine, Natural World. The Magazine is read by all members of the individual Wildlife Trusts, to a huge 880,000 people. I wrote [...]

Birdgirl Blog Race Equality in Nature Conference – Black2Nature On 3 June 2016 I organised a conference at Bristol Zoo called Race Equality in Nature which was sponsored by Bristol Zoo Gardens, The Wildlife Trusts, WWT, Swarovski Optik, Opticron, AFON, Bristol Multi-Faith Forum (BMFF), Imayla, CASS and Brian Eversham. I am very grateful to all [...]

Birdgirl Blog Why We Must BAN Driven Grouse Shooting What has driven grouse shooting? Where does it happen? Why is there a campaign to ban it? If you are a birder or British wildlife conservationist, you would have to have been without internet in Outer Mongolia to not have some idea what this campaign is [...]

Birdgirl Blog A laugh with Sir David Attenborough and hitting 1.5 million views…Wow! Sir David Attenborough and Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at the State of Nature Report Launch Copyright: Layton Thompson (rsspb-images.com)   I love these two photographs of me with Sir David Attenborough and feel really lucky to have had the chance to [...]

Birdgirl Blog Siberian Accentor Influx Siberian Accentor Easington Copyright Young Birder Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig Sometimes strange things happen with birds. On Sunday 9 October 2016 a Siberian Accentor turned up in a quarry on Shetland, a “First” for Britain. They are extremely rare in Western Europe and had come all the way from Northern Siberia [...]

Birdgirl Blog Interview in BBC Wildlife Magazine The BBC Wildlife Magazine October 2016 Edition had an article about Minority Ethnic people and about the fact that they were not going out into nature. Parts of an interview by me were included on page 32, "Diverse Nature" with a photo. The article is an interesting one and [...]

Birdgirl Blog What are we going to do about the State of Nature? Last Wednesday, 14th September 2016, it was the launch of the State of Nature Report 2016 (http://bit.ly/2cSjVNR) at The Royal Society in London (the first report came out in 2013 and revealed a severe loss of nature occurring in the UK since [...]

Birdgirl Blog California, USA – Week 2 (1 August – 8 August 2016) Before we arrived in California, I wasn't sure what to expect. After spending two weeks here, so far, it had been amazing for birds though a little bit tough to find them in this quiet period after breeding when many birds stop [...]

Birdgirl Blog Nature Connections Festival and meeting Chris Packham On Saturday 10 September 2016, I had a brilliant time at the Nature Connections Festival organised by Derby University. I gave a talk "Born to Bird" about being born into a birding family, finding my own love for birds and nature, my journey to becoming the [...]

Birdgirl Blog Cory’s Shearwater at Porthgwarra, Cornwall Thursday 1 September was a long day. Mum and I still needed to see Cory's Shearwater. They are annual from Cornwall but during late July and August when we are away birding abroad. This year, we were home a week earlier than usual, with a week left in [...]

Birdgirl Blog Western Swamphen, Lincolnshire On Tuesday 30th August 2016 in the morning, news came out about a Western Swamphen being seen in Lincolnshire. It was the same bird as the one seen at Minsmere whilst we were in the USA. We were all in the car within 20 minutes of the news breaking, on [...]

Birdgirl Blog California, USA – Week 1 (26 Jul-1 Aug 2016) Before our trip, I was really looking forward to birding in the USA over summer, across California, Arizona and New York City. Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig on flight to San Francisco At age 14, my world list is [...]

Birdgirl Blog WWT’s Plan for Nature Report Launch in London On 20 July 2016, I travelled to London after school and had a brilliant evening attending Wildfowl and Wetland Trust's launch of their Rich in Nature Report #planfornature at the Houses of Parliament, hearing some inspiring speakers and meeting lots of interesting speakers. The report is really [...]

Birdgirl Blog Camp Avalon 2016 Last weekend was Camp Avalon, my camp for young people interested in birds, nature or from inner city Bristol wanting to connect with nature. We had 17 attendees with another two visiting and 50% were from an ethnic minority background. We had an amazing time, birding, mothing. ringing, trying out [...]

Birdgirl Blog American White-winged Scoter, Murcar, Aberdeenshire Sometimes we do a long distance twitch that is really fun, just because of the madness of the trip.  That was what this twitch was like. I had an inset day on Tuesday 5th July 2016. That's when school is closed for teacher training. So rather than have [...]

Birdgirl Blog Birdgirl’s 30 Days Wild, Day 25 – for diverse communities This month is 30 Days Wild 2016, an initiative of The Wildlife Trusts who say "This June, can you do something wild each day for a month?" What they are saying is that nature is everywhere, so by looking for it through your [...]

Birdgirl Blog Birdgirl’s 30 Days Wild, Day 24 – for diverse communities This month is 30 Days Wild 2016, an initiative of The Wildlife Trusts who say "This June, can you do something wild each day for a month?" What they are saying is that nature is everywhere, so by looking for it through your [...]

Birdgirl Blog Birdgirl’s 30 Days Wild, Day 23 – for diverse communities This month is 30 Days Wild 2016, an initiative of The Wildlife Trusts who say "This June, can you do something wild each day for a month?" What they are saying is that nature is everywhere, so by looking for it through your [...]

Birdgirl Blog Birdgirl’s 30 Days Wild, Day 22 – for diverse communities This month is 30 Days Wild 2016, an initiative of The Wildlife Trusts who say "This June, can you do something wild each day for a month?" What they are saying is that nature is everywhere, so by looking for it through your [...]

Birdgirl Blog Birdgirl’s 30 Days Wild, Day 21 – for diverse communities This month is 30 Days Wild 2016, an initiative of The Wildlife Trusts who say "This June, can you do something wild each day for a month?" What they are saying is that nature is everywhere, so by looking for it through your [...]

Birdgirl Blog Great Knot in RSPB Titchwell Reserve On Sunday 19 June 2016 we travelled to RSPB Titchwell reserve to see a Great Knot.  It was a fairly straightforward twitch, as the bird was on one of the pools most of the time we were there. It is always nice to get across to Norfolk [...]

Birdgirl Blog 30 Days Wild – Day 16 to 20 – For diverse communities This month is 30 Days Wild 2016, an initiative of The Wildlife Trusts who say "This June, can you do something wild each day for a month?" What they are saying is that nature is everywhere, so by looking for it [...]

Birdgirl Blog ABA Magazine’s article about me and the Sundarbans oil spill The American Birding Association has got a huge membership and has a quarterly magazine.  The Magazine just out is called "Birders' Guide to Conservation and Community" with lots of brilliant articles about sex, race and getting young people into nature. Noah Strycker (last [...]

Birdgirl Blog My Article in New Internationalist Magazine This is my latest article which is for New Internationalist Magazine Blog about the impact fashion has on the environment http://bit.ly/1ZP6zmu and is called "Why I love Pre-loved, Unloved and Recycled". Wikipedia states: New Internationalist is published by New Internationalist Publications, a co-operative-run publisher based in Oxford, England. It [...]

Birdgirl Blog 30 Days Wild – Day 11 to 15 – for diverse communities This month is 30 Days Wild 2016, an initiative of The Wildlife Trusts who say "This June, can you do something wild each day for a month?" What they are saying is that nature is everywhere, so by looking for it [...]

Birdgirl Blog 30 Days Wild – Day 6 to 10 – for diverse communities This month is 30 Days Wild 2016, an initiative of The Wildlife Trusts who say "This June, can you do something wild each day for a month?" What they are saying is that nature is everywhere, so by looking for it [...]

Birdgirl Blog Garden Bioblitz 2016 Butterflies/Moths Harten Dart Treble-Lines Middle-barred Miner Pepper Moth Coronet Alder Moth Arrysotechia Culmella Pale Tussock Small Square-Spot Ruby Tiger Common Wainscot Garden Pebble Least Black arches Bright-line Brown-eye Nut tree Tussock Silver Y Common Marble Carpet Brimstone - Photo 3 Scorched White Ermine - 1st photo 2 Elephant hawk moth [...]

Birdgirl Blog Springwatch – Garden Bio Blitz 2016 A garden bio blitz is when you try and see and identify as many living species as possible within a 24 hour period.  In 2014 when I did a garden bio blitz, lots of our naturalist friends came to visit and helped with identifying species.  I also [...]

Birdgirl Blog 30 Days Wild – Day 1 to 5 – for diverse communities This month is 30 Days Wild 2016, an initiative of The Wildlife Trusts who say "This June, can you do something wild each day for a month?" What they are saying is that nature is everywhere, so by looking for it [...]

Birdgirl Blog Birdgirl’s 30 Days Wild – for diverse communities These are a few of my photographs from my 30 Days Wild last year. 30 Days Wild 2015 - Enjoying the plants in my garden but could be a park 30 Days Wild 2015 - Enjoying local woods but could be in a park 30 [...]

Birdgirl Blog How Ethnicity and Wealth are Impacting on Children Going Out into Nature Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at Camp Avalon Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at Camp Avalon Camp Avalon Camp Avalon Background I am a 14 year old birder, naturalist, conservationist, environmentalist and activist.  I have been going out into nature all my life visiting lots [...]

Birdgirl Blog Lammergier Dip – Dartmoor NP On Sunday 15 May 2016 in the morning, we heard about a Lammergeier seen in Devon not that far from where we live that had been videoed by a non-birdwatcher on Thursday but identified from the video. However, there had been no more sign. It is the first [...]

Birdgirl Blog Lady Amhurst’s Pheasant – 5th time lucky Today I saw a Lady Amhurst's Pheasant in Bedfordshire. They are originally from China and were released here some time ago like our other pheasants. They bred and had a self sustaining population (meaning they survived here) but recently went into decline. There is now just [...]

Birdgirl Blog Petition asking supermarkets for GMO food labelling in Europe Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig I just added the petition: Labelling of GMO in the UK. It would be great if you signed because: At present GMO soy (and other) feed is given to chickens, pigs, cows, sheep and other animals in Europe. The meat from [...]

Birdgirl Blog Appearing in The Resurgence and Ecologist Magazine Today I appeared in The Resurgence and Ecologist Magazine http://www.theecologist.org/campaigning/2987537/opening_up_the_debate_on_gmos_to_the_voices_of_the_future.html When I heard that the GMO campaign by Beyond GM that I had been involved in called "Our Food our Future" with my video on GMO's had appeared in The Resurgence and Ecologist, I knew it [...]

Birdgirl Blog Thank you letter from Geographical Association This is the lovely letter I received from the President of the Geographical Association for School Teachers on the talk I gave at their Annual Conference. Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig talking to geography teachers at the GA Conference 12 April 2016 Dear Mya-Rose, I simply had to write and thank [...]

Birdgirl Blog Results of owl pellets from Chew Valley Ringing Station Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig Dissecting an owl pellet at WWT Slimbridge Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig Dissecting an owl pellet at WWT Slimbridge Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig   In 2015 some owl pellets were collected from Chew [...]

Birdgirl Blog My video on GMO’s Please watch my video on my concerns about Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO's) http://bit.ly/1UUGIL2 I'm really worried about GMO's being brought into the UK food chain, without us citizens getting a say. Last year, I wrote a blog post about GMO's http://bit.ly/1qBxciR which appeared on Beyond GM's website. In the USA, GMO's are classified [...]

Birdgirl Blog Speaking at Bangladesh Independence Day Celebrations Spoon-billed Sandpiper on Sonadia Island, Bangladesh Sonadia Island Photograph taken by and copyright Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig I am really proud of my Bangladeshi heritage. It means a lot to me and knowing about Bangladeshi wildlife and conservation projects is important. On 26 March 1971, 45 years ago [...]

Birdgirl Blog Interview with Natursidan in Swedan Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at Chew Valley Lake Photograph taken by Oliver Edwards Photography I've given a few interviews in the last few months, but this one was a little different.  It was for a Swedish website www.Natursidan.se written by a birder Erik Hansson http://bit.ly/1VcXKUW Often when we travel around [...]

Birdgirl Blog Race Equality in Nature Conference This conference will take place on 3 June 2016 in Bristol http://bit.ly/1RP2fjP Nabil at Camp Avalon 2015 In the UK, it is rare to see an ethnic minority person out in a nature reserve, even in the inner city. People from Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities [...]

Birdgirl Blog Questionnaire for Naturalists living in Bangladesh If you live in Bangladesh and are interested in wildlife, nature, conservation or the environment or know someone in this group, please read on. Hamza at Camp Avalon 2015 In the UK, it is rare to see an ethnic minority person out in a nature reserve, even [...]

Birdgirl Blog Camp Avalon 2016 – Invitation to attend Friday 15 July 2016 to Sunday 17 July 2016 Shapwick Heath, Somerset Levels, March 2015 Photograph taken by and copyright Mya-Rose Craig In June 2015, I organised Camp Avalon,  which attracted lots of young teenagers to the Somerset Levels, to spend the weekend birding and getting [...]

When I was in Antarctica in December 2016,  we witnessed a really rare sight of a Leopard Seal hunting penguins, catching one, killing it and then thrashing it from side to side, to skin it. This is my video of the seal skinning the penguin. http://youtu.be/Urun__AMSKs   Leopard Seal and Adélie penguin Leopard Seal

Birdgirl Blog Interview for Indiana Young Birder’s Club Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig in Queensland, Australia Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig     At the end of last year I gave an interview to Indiana Young Birders' Club for their magazine, The Warbler which was published in their Fall Edition, http://bit.ly/23kiPBa   It was really [...]

Birdgirl Blog American Birding Association Birding Magazine Article Dec 2015 In the December 2015 American Birding Association magazine "Birding" I was mentioned in an article on page 8 called "ABA's Young Birders: The Future is now" as I entered the ABA Young Birder of the Year competition 2015. I was also mentioned in the birding [...]

Birdgirl Blog Making Nest boxes with Cubs and Scouts You might think that making nest boxes in sessions at Cubs and Scouts might not make much difference beyond the actual boxes that get put up. You'd be completely wrong. Chew Stoke Cubs with Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig We made [...]

Birdgirl Blog Sexism in nature conservation – Part 2 Since I wrote my first blog post on 2nd December 2015 http://birdgirluk.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/letter-to-bbc-wildlife-magazine-on.html, I have had lots of support. I really appreciate all of this; on Facebook Groups, my Facebook Page, Twitter and comments on my Blog. Some of the advice has been given with really good [...]

Birdgirl Blog BBC Wildlife Magazine Young Blogger of the Year   Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at Mabamba Wetlands, Uganda Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig   During 2015, I decided that as well as blogging on my blog, I would also post on the BBC Wildlife Magazine blog, in the Local Patch Section http://bit.ly/1QufmKe. This actually [...]

Birdgirl Blog Results Birdwatch Magazine Readers Choice Awards 2015 In the November 2015 edition of Birdwatch Magazine, the Birders' Choice Awards 2015 were announced and I had been nominated in the Best Blog section. I was up against lots of amazing bloggers and conservationists and so although I had no chance of winning, it didn't [...]

Birdgirl Blog Association of Science Educators Conference 2016 On 9th January 2016, not long after returned from Antarctica, I gave a 45 minute talk at the Association of Science Educators (ASE) Conference. The Association is for Science teachers and I talked about "Educating our Future Environmentalists". The conference was at Birmingham University which was beautiful. [...]

Birdgirl Blog Article in The Western Daily Press In early December 2015, as a Bristol Green Capital Ambassador, I wrote a guest blog about getting teenagers into nature.  This is something that is really important to me, as our young people are the environmentalists of the future. If we are unable to connect with this [...]

Birdgirl Blog Chile – List of new birds Our trip to Chile was never going to bring me lots of new birds, like the countries in the tropics, but the new birds would be of quality. We travelled with Albatross Birding who were very knowledgeable, well organised and involved in the heart of lots of conservation projects [...]

Birdgirl Blog Chile – 4 January 2016, Travelling home and photo highlights of Antarctica We were booked onto an evening flight from Santiago to Madrid. The flight was on time, and even though it was late in the UK, I had time to watch a few films before I was forced to switch off by [...]

Birdgirl Blog Chile Day 13 – 3rd January 2016 – Farellones Valley This morning, Fernando our brilliant guide from Albatross Birding, picked us up at 5.00 am to drive us into the mountains. It was lovely to end the trip birding in the same place that we started, though this time lowers down the slops. [...]

Birdgirl Blog Chile Day 12 – 2nd January 2016 – Lampa and Batuco Wetlands This morning, Fernando our brilliant guide from Albatross Birding, met us at our airport hotel at 6.00 am for a full day of birding. We drove to two wetlands, firstly Lampa and then Batuco Wetlands. The key species for the morning [...]

Birdgirl Blog Chile Day 11 – 1st January 2016 – Cerro Nielol National Park This morning we were up and out at 6.00 am, to go back to Cerro Nielol National Park, just on the outskirts of Temuco, the fifth biggest city in Chile and one south of Santiago. Fernando from Albatross Birding was our [...]

Birdgirl Blog Birdgirl’s best birds and animals of 2015 This year has been a fantastic year for me. It started with a new UK bird on the 1st January, Little Bustard. Then a February trip to survey Spoon-billed Sandpiper in Bangladesh, 6 weeks over the summer in Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya ending the year in [...]

Birdgirl Blog Chile Day 10 – 31st December 2015 – Altos de Lircay National Reserve This morning we were up at 5.30 am for a 6.00 am breakfast. Normally this would be OK, but this morning after two nights of lacking sleep, I felt exhausted most of the morning. We spent the morning birding at [...]

Birdgirl Blog Chile Days 8 & 9 – 29rd & 30th December 2015 – Altos de Lircay NR Our flight from King George Island, Antarctica to Punto Arenas, Chile was several hours late. By the time we got to our hotel room, it was 8.30 pm. It was too late to meet our friends, have [...]

Birdgirl Blog Bird List for the Drake Passage and Antarctica Birds and animals seen on Antarctica Voyage (the Drake Passage and Antarctica): Birds seen on Antarctica Voyage: Black-browed Albatross Southern Royal Albatross and Black-browed Albatross Gray Mantled Albatross Northern Giant Petrel Gentoo Penguin Adélie Penguin Snow Petrel Photograph taken by and copyright Chris Craig 30 [...]

Birdgirl Blog Antarctica Voyage Day 11 – 29th December 2015- Flying out of King George Island Today was our last day in Antarctica. It snowed all morning so it was an apt end to our voyage, which had been in the calm waters and best weather of the season so far. Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose [...]

Birdgirl Blog Antarctica Voyage Day 10 – 28th December 2015 – Hope Bay This morning we awoke to lots of icebergs and ice. After breakfast, we arrived at a really beautiful bay, called Hope Bay. Here we had a Zodiac cruise around, which is the site of a large Argentinian research station, which is run [...]

Birdgirl Blog Antarctica Voyage Day 9 – 27 December 2015 – Landing on the Antarctic Peninsula This morning wake up was an hour early at 6.00 am, as we were due out on the Zodiacs at 7.45 am to visit Paulet Island. However, there was too much ice on the sea to get there. The [...]

Birdgirl Blog Antarctic Voyage Day 8 – 26th December 2015 – Aitcho Island This morning we woke up to the good news that my friend and her parents were evacuated from the boat at about 4 am, to catch a flight to Punto Arenas. Her dad was now in hospital there and being treated for [...]

Birdgirl Blog Antarctica Voyage Day 7 – 25th December 2015 – Steaming Along at Sea Leith Cove, Antarctica Photograph taken by Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig This morning I was woken up in my bivi camping at 5.30 am and was warm and cosy until I had to get up. We brought everything with us [...]

Birdgirl Blog Antarctica Voyage Day 6 – 24th December 2015 – Graham Passage, Danco Island and Camping on Leith Cove This morning we woke up next to huge glaciers, icebergs and ice flows. It could not have been more stunning and beautiful. Graham Passage, Antarctica Graham Passage, Antarctica Photograph taken by and copyright Young Birder [...]

Birdgirl Blog Antarctica Voyage Day 5 – 23rd December 2015 – Turrett Point, King George Island Today we woke up close to King George Island, with a beautiful view across the sea. We were surrounded by icebergs, lots and lots of Humpback Whale and ice on top of the water. In the morning, we had [...]

Birdgirl Blog Antarctica Voyage Day 4 – 22nd December 2015 – Elephant Island Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig Photograph taken by and copyright Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig Fin Whale Photograph taken by and copyright Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig Today, I woke up with great excitement. First, [...]

Birdgirl Blog Antarctica Voyage Day 3 – 21st December 2015 – Reaching Antarctica A day at sea in The Drake Passage and finally reaching Antarctica, my 7th Continent Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig's bunk Photograph taken by and copyright Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig's cabin Photograph taken by and copyright [...]

Birdgirl Blog Falkland Island Trip Bird List Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig Port Stanley, Falkland Main Island Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig Gentoo Penguin on Sea Lion Island, Falklands Photograph taken by Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig We had an hour birding on the Main Island, one landing on Sea Lion Island and [...]

Birdgirl Blog Antarctica Voyage Day 2 – 20th December 2015 – The Falklands, Sea Lion Island Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig on The Vavilov On our first evening on board, we got used to sea watching from a ship. It was great to see so many Black-browned Albatross and Wilson’s Storm Petrels. It’s funny because [...]

Birdgirl Blog Antarctica Voyage Day 1 – 19th December 2015 – Falkland Main Island Port Stanley from the ship Photograph taken by and copyright Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig After boarding our ship, The Vavilov, we met Simon Boyd our onboard bird guide. Simon immediately recognised me from the OBC Magazine article about Spoon-billed Sandpiper [...]

Birdgirl Blog Port Stanley, The Falkland Islands – 19 December 2015 We were almost an hour late meeting our guide at Mount Pleasant Airport as it took ages to get our bags and queue to get through immigration and customs. There’s one flight a week from Punto Arenas here each Saturday plus an airforce place [...]

Birdgirl Blog Chile – Day 7 – 19 December 2015 – Punta Arenas This morning we left Puerto Natales early so that we could get to Punto Arenas airport and go birding on the way. It was going to be our last chance to see Flightless Steamer Duck before we set off for the Falkland [...]

Birdgirl Blog Chile Day 6 – 18 December 2015 – Torres del Paine Today we woke up in the most beautiful of locations, Torres del Paine National Park. Stunningly, snow-capped granite mountains and turquoise fjords made this place really awesome. First was a drive to try for Austral Rail, keeping our eyes peeled for Puma, [...]

Birdgirl Blog Chile Day 5 – 17 December 2015 – Puerto Natales Our guide for this part of our trip was Rodrigo Silva, a great guide from Albatross Birding. Rodrigo told us that he guided Noah Strycker, who was doing a World Big Year in 2015 and was at nearly 6,000 for the year. Today [...]

Birdgirl Blog Chile Day 4 – 16 December 2015 – Tierra del Fuego Today we were being guided again by Rodrigo Silva from Albatross Birding Tours who is a great guide with perfect English. Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig, Tierra del Fuego, Chile Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig This morning we had a [...]

Birdgirl Blog Chile Day 3 – 15 December 2015 – Tierra del Fuego Having not had enough sleep for 3 nights, I was feeling a bit tired this morning when I was woken up at 6.00 am. We did some sea watching for an hour in Punto Arenas before boarding our ferry to Tierra del [...]

Birdgirl Blog Chile Day 2 – 14 December 2015 – The Coast west of Santiago Last night I managed to negotiate a 6 am breakfast, which Mum and Dad were really impressed by. Having all got to bed at 12.30 am after a quick shower (even 13 year olds have a cleanliness threshold!) we were [...]

Birdgirl Blog Chile Day 1 – 13 December 2015 – Farellones Valley Our flight from Madrid to Santiago, Chile got in half an hour early and so by the time we left the terminal it was 10.00 am, with our guide Rodrigo Silva from Albatross Birding Tours who was there to meet us. Mum had [...]

Birdgirl Blog Packing and on our way South to Chile – 19th December 2015 No matter how early we pack, we never seem to be ready until the night before we are leaving on a trip. We still ended up with too much and again didn't have enough time to unpack and repack fewer things [...]

Birdgirl Blog 2015 UN Climate Change Conference Greenpeace Climate Change Campaign What does that mean? To the vast majority of people on this planet, it is the human race's worst failing yet. However, in a poll from October 2015, only 70% of people in the USA believe that global warming has taken place over the [...]

Birdgirl Blog Chew Valley Gazette Dec 2015 Article – Indonesian Fires AFON Conference Sept 2014, my vision for the future is "that all the palm oil plantations turn back into forest" Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig I write a column called "Birding Tales" in my local monthly newspaper, the Chew Valley Gazette. Although [...]

Birdgirl Blog Wildlife Photographer of the Year On Tuesday 1st December 2015, I attended the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition Private preview at M Shed Bristol. Our lovely birding friend, Andy Pym, arranged the tickets for us. I know I say it a lot, but I am so lucky to live in Bristol, where [...]

Birdgirl Blog Bristol 2015 Blog post “How teenagers can help save the planet” Bristol European Green Capital 2015 (Bristol 2015) Bristol is the European Green Capital 2015, which is brilliant for my home city and for someone like me, who cares about the environment. I am an Ambassador for Bristol 2015, along with an amazing [...]

Birdgirl Blog Letter to BBC Wildlife Magazine on sexism in nature conservation Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig ringing Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig My lovely friend Lucy McRobert wrote a brilliant article in the December 2015 edition of BBC Wildlife Magazine.  In it she talked about the sexism in birding and nature conservation. This was [...]

Birdgirl Blog Birdwatch Magazine Readers Choice Awards 2015 – My Nomination In the November 2015 edition of Birdwatch Magazine, the Birders' Choice Awards 2015 were announced. The lovely Steve Hale of Avon Birding contacted us asking if he could publicize that I was nominated for an award. We hadn't looked at our copy yet, but [...]

Birdgirl Blog The Wildlife Trust – Guest blog for “Every Child Wild” Campaign Camp Avalon 2016 Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig At the beginning of November, The Wildlife Trust launched their 'Every Child Wild’ Campaign. This is a campaign designed to demonstrate their work with children. Every year, the trusts interact with 350,000 [...]

Birdgirl Blog Bristol Climate Change March 29/11/15 – Addressing the Rally Greenpeace message On Sunday 29 November 2015, 785,000 people around the world marched to tell their leaders that they wanted them to take action to stop climate change. This was my speech addressing the rally, which was amazing having people cheering me through my [...]

Birdgirl Blog Swarovski Blog Post about World Shorebird Day As many of you will know from reading my blog, I have a pair of Swarovski Optik CL Companion 10 x 32 binoculars. They are perfect for me because they are so light, but still giving me the performance I need especially for world birding. This [...]

Birdgirl Blog Interview on Shepherd’s Way Radio My local Community Radio Station has a show every Wednesday evening called Shepherd’s Way, hosted by the amazing Steve Shepherd. They talk about anything to do with nature, conservation and the environment had had had lots of famous people being interviewed. Steve Shepherd has been brilliant to me [...]

Birdgirl Blog The Wildlife Trust – Every Child Wild Podcast Sorell Lyall, Nathan Burch, Alex White, Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig, Billy Stockwell Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig In September, I, along with other young people interested in the nature of varying secondary school ages was invited by Lucy McRoberts of The Wildlife Trusts (TWT) [...]

Birdgirl Blog American Birding Association – My Guest Blog On 10 November 2015, The American Birding Association published a guest blog by me about my summer trip to Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya Open Mic: On Being the Youngest to 4000 Species I wrote about seeing Shoebill, Green-breasted Pitta and Red-throated Tit, my 4000th bird in [...]

Birdgirl Blog November Media Interest November was an exciting month for me. First, it started with this photo of me in Birdwatching Magazine. They had bought the photo of a child and nest box from an agency and I was really pleased that the magazine had chosen one of me...an amusing start. Birdwatching Magazine - [...]

Birdgirl Blog Inspiring Seven Year Old Laila to Like Nature I have a big sister called Ayesha, who is about to be 26 Years old. When I was little she was my 'cool' big sister and as a young female birder and twitcher, she was a fantastic role model. Ayesha's a strong character and had [...]

Birdgirl Blog My Column in the Chew Valley Gazette – Birding Tales I have been writing a column for my local newspaper, The Chew Valley Gazette. My column is called Birding Tales and it is great to know that lots of people who work for the BBC Natural History Unit and in the natural history [...]

Birdgirl Blog Article on Swarovski Optik Blog As many of you will know from reading my blog, I have a pair of Swarovski Optik CL Companion 10 x 32 binoculars. They are perfect for me because they are so light, but still, give me the performance I need especially for world birding. This summer, I [...]

Birdgirl Blog RSPB Caingorms Nature Young Presenter of the Year Competition 2015 Whilst I was in Uganda, I looked for opportunities for making a short film for the RSPB Young Presenter Competition 2015. I decided that Mountain Gorillas would be amazing if I could film them. However, I knew that it would be difficult to [...]

Birdgirl Blog The Article in the OBC Magazine about my trip to Bangladesh I made a trip in February 2015 to Bangladesh, to survey the rare Spoon-billed Sandpiper that winter on Sonadia Island, give a talk in Dhaka and raise the profile of the birds through the Bangladesh media. The trip was important to me [...]

Birdgirl Blog More ringing These are some photographs from my recent ringing at Chew Valley Ringing Station. I love ringing and I'm grateful to everyone at the ringing station who helps and supports me. Mike Bailey is my trainer there and he is brilliant, dedicating his retirement to the ringing station. Special thanks also to [...]

Birdgirl Blog Bristol, World Centre of Wildlife Films I live just south of Bristol, which is a fantastic place to live if you are interested in nature, green issues and especially nature filmmaking and TV. 25% of the world’s nature programmes are made here and lots of people involved in the industry live in and [...]

Birdgirl Blog Camp Avalon – Articles in SOS and Avalon Marshes Newsletters Camp Avalon Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig In June 2015 I organised and ran a camp for young birders and encouraged five ethnic minority teenage boys to come, which is something, not even the big conservation NGOs have managed. Camp Avalon [...]

Birdgirl Blog Interview by Prairie Birder, Charlotte Wasylik Just before I went away to East Africa for the summer, I gave an interview to Prairie Birder, Charlotte Wasylik. She is a fantastic role model, as a young female blogger and birder. She has an unbelievable number of followers, which gives me a little bit of [...]

Birdgirl Blog Bristol European Green Capital 2015 (Bristol 2015) Ambassador Bristol European Green Capital 2015 (Bristol 2015) 2015 is a special year for everyone who lives in and around my home city, Bristol. It is even more important for someone like me, who cares about the environment. This is my previous article birdgirl's blog post [...]

Birdgirl Blog Black Stork – Getting to 450 in UK! On Saturday 5th September 2015, I gave a talk at the Oriental Bird Club AGM in Cambridge about my trip to Bangladesh earlier in the year, when I surveyed and highlighted the plight of the rare Spoon-billed Sandpiper which stays over winter there. It was [...]

Birdgirl Blog Speaking at Bristol Peoples’ Climate March 29 Nov 2015 I am really pleased to announce that I will be addressing a climate change rally in Bristol on 29 November 2015. If you live in the West Country, please come and march. On Monday 30 November 2015, the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris [...]

Birdgirl Blog Speaking at Teaching Unions’ Conferences 2016 Young birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig taking part in RSPB Big School Birdwatch Photograph copyright Chew Valley School A while ago, I wrote two blog posts which were open letters to BBC Wildlife Magazine about my thoughts on getting children into nature: Letter to BBC Wildlife Magazine Second [...]

Birdgirl Blog World Shorebirds Day – 4, 5, 6 Sept 2015 – How the day went As well as being a young birder and conservationist, I am also Ambassador for World Shorebirds Day. I have chosen to champion World Shorebirds Day because it is an organisation that each September celebrates waders (shorebirds) and those trying [...]

Birdgirl Blog Oriental Bird Club – AGM 5th Sept 2015 On 5th September 2015, I spoke about Spoon-billed Sandpiper in Bangladesh and World Shorebird Day, which I'm an Ambassador for at the OBC AGM. Advert for OBC AGM in OBC Magazine Birding Asia, June 2015 I talked about my trip to Bangladesh in February, where [...]

Birdgirl Blog Wader poem for Wader Quest In July I wrote a poem about waders for Wader Quest. This is an extract from their July 2015 Newsletter. Wader Quest - Newsletter July 2015 Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at Hudsonian Godwit twitch Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig Waders : A poem by Mya-Rose [...]

Birdgirl Blog Letter from the Shadow Education Secretary – Tristram Hunt Those of you who follow me regularly will know how strongly I feel about getting children and young people into birds, wildlife and nature and how important it is for them to understand conservation and protecting the environment. We, young people today are the [...]

Birdgirl Blog World Shorebird Day – 4-6 Sept 2015 As well as being a young birder and conservationist, I am also Ambassador for World Shorebirds Day. I have chosen to champion World Shorebirds Day because it is an organisation that each September celebrates waders (shorebirds) and those trying to conserve them. Waders often migrate long [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – The postscript Homeward bound I have not been able to upload photographs to my blog because there has not been any wifi or decent band width but will add my photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. Today was our travel day home. We caught an overnight [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Day 43 Kenya 30 August 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my blog because there has not been any wifi or decent band width but will add my photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. Today is the thirteenth day of our birding [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Week 6 Uganda 23 August 2015 to 29 August 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my blog without wifi or decent band width but will add my photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. Today is the eleventh day of our birding trip [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Day 42 Kenya 29 August 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my blog because there has not been any wifi or decent band width but will add my photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. Today is the eleventh day of our birding [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Day 41 Kenya 28 August 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my blog because there has not been any wifi or decent band width but will add my photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. Today is the tenth day of our birding [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Day 40 Kenya 27 August 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my blog because there has not been any wifi or decent band width but will add my photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. Today is the ninth day of our birding [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Day 39 Kenya 26 August 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my blog because there has not been any wifi or decent band width but will add my photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. Today is the eighth day of our birding [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Day 38 Kenya 25 August 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my blog because there has not been any wifi or decent band width but will add my photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. Today is the seventh day of our birding [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Day 37 Kenya 24 August 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my blog as we haven’t had any wifi or decent band width but will add my photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. Today is the sixth day of our birding trip [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Day 36 Kenya 23 August 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my blog because we didn’t have any wifi or decent band width but will add my photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. Today is the fifth day of our birding trip [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Week 5 Uganda 16 August 2015 to 22 August 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my blog without wifi or decent band width but will add my photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. The highlight of our fifth week, in Kenya, was [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Day 35 Kenya 22 August 2015 Today was our fourth day of birding in Kenya We stayed at Soi Safari Lodge at Baringo Lake. This morning Dad grabbed a coffee before we headed off at 6.00 am for a boat trip across the lake. We didn’t get our hoped for [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Day 34 Kenya 21 August 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my blog without wifi or decent band width but will add my photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. Today is the third day of our birding trip to Kenya which we [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Day 33 Kenya 20 August 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my blog without wifi or decent band width but will add my photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. Today is the second day of our birding trip to Kenya which we [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Day 32, Seeing my 4000th bird species in Kenya Kenya 19 August 2015 Today is the first day of the start of our birding trip to Kenya which we have organised through a local ground agent and bird guide Moses Kandie of Birdwatching Express Tours (https://ke.linkedin.com/in/moses-kandie-691bb515). He provided lots of [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa Summary – Day 1 – Day 31 Uganda and Rwanda 19 July to 18 August 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my blog without wifi or decent band width but will add my photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. We had a really [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Day 31 Rwanda 18 August 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my blog without wifi or decent band width but will add my photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. We are having the most brilliant time in Uganda with everything being great. [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Day 30 Rwanda 17 August 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my blog without wifi or decent band width but will add my photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. We are having the most brilliant time in Uganda and Rwanda with everything [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Day 29 Rwanda 16 August 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my blog without wifi or decent band width but will add my photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. We are having the most brilliant time in Uganda and Rwanda with everything [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Week 4 Uganda 16 August 2015 to 22 August 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my blog without wifi or decent band width but will add my photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. We are having the most brilliant time in Uganda [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Day 28 Rwanda 15 August 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my blog without wifi or decent band width but will add my photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. We are having the most brilliant time in Uganda and Rwanda with everything [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Day 26 Rwanda 13 August 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my blog without wifi or decent band width but will add my photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. We are having the most brilliant time in Uganda and Rwanda with everything [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Week 3 Uganda 2 August 2015 to 8 August 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my blog without wifi or decent band width but will add my photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. We are having the most brilliant time in Uganda [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Day 20 Uganda 7 August 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my, blog without wifi or decent band width but will add photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. We are having the most brilliant time in Uganda with ever great. Our trip [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Day 19 Uganda 6 August 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my, blog without wifi or decent band width but will add photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. We are having the most brilliant time in Uganda with ever great. Our trip [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Day 18 Uganda 5 August 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my, blog without wifi or decent band width but will add photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. We are having the most brilliant time in Uganda with ever great. Our trip [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Day 17 Uganda 4 August 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my, blog without wifi or decent band width but will add photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. We are having the most brilliant time in Uganda with ever great. Our trip [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa -Day 16 Uganda 3 August 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my blog without wifi or decent band width but will add my photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. We are having the most brilliant time in Uganda with everything being great. Our [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Day 15 Uganda 2 August 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my blog without wifi or decent band width but will add my photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. We are having the most brilliant time in Uganda with everything being great. [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Week 2 Uganda 26 July 2015 – 1 August 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my blog without wifi or decent band width but will add my photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. We are having the most brilliant time in Uganda [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa Day 14 Uganda 1 August 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my blog without wifi or decent band width but will add my photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. We are having the most brilliant time in Uganda with everything being great. Our [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Day 12 Uganda 30 July 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my blog without wifi or decent band width but will add my photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. We are having the most brilliant time in Uganda with everything being great. [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Day 10 Uganda 28 July 2015 I have not been able to upload photographs to my blog without wifi or decent band width but will add my photographs to my blog post as soon as I can. We are having the most brilliant time in Uganda with everything being great. [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Day 3 Uganda 21 July 2015 Last night, we were staying in a nice hotel in Jinja. I think there had been a large Sikh community before and my friend Shinda had told me that her relatives used to live here. This morning we arrived for breakfast at our hotel [...]

Birdgirl Blog East Africa – Day 1 Uganda – 19 July 2015 Last night, it was midnight Kampala time when we got to bed. Far too late to upload my blog, particularly with the rubbish wifi. Then, much too soon, we were up again at 5.30 am for a 6.00 am breakfast, to leave at [...]

Birdgirl Blog 7 Days Not Very Wild – A Summary of the Problems 7 Days not very Wild - 1-7 July 2015 Trying to do something wild each day - but not easy when nature has been trashed My idea is that sometimes even if we look for that great wild thing in nature, it [...]

Birdgirl Blog 7 Days Not Very Wild – Day 7 – 7 July 2015 7 Days not very Wild - Trying to do something wild each day My idea is that sometimes even if we look for that great wild thing in nature, it can be hard to find because of all sorts of reasons [...]

Birdgirl Blog 7 Days Not Very Wild – Day 6 – 6 July 2015 7 Days not very Wild - Trying to do something wild each day My idea is that sometimes even if we look for that great wild thing in nature, it can be hard to find because of all sorts of reasons [...]

Birdgirl Blog 7 Days Not Very Wild – Day 5 – 5 July 2015 7 Days not very Wild - Trying to do something wild each day My idea is that sometimes even if we look for that great wild thing in nature, it can be hard to find because of all sorts of reasons [...]

Birdgirl Blog 7 Days Not Very Wild – Day 4 – 4 July 2015 7 Days not very Wild - Trying to do something wild each day My idea is that sometimes even if we look for that great wild thing in nature, it can be hard to find because of all sorts of reasons [...]

Birdgirl Blog 7 Days Not Very Wild – Day 3 – 3 July 2015 7 Days not very Wild - Trying to do something wild each day My idea is that sometimes even if we look for that great wild thing in nature, it can be hard to find because of all sorts of reasons [...]

Birdgirl Blog 7 Days Not Very Wild – Day 2 – 2 July 2015 7 Days not very Wild - Trying to do something wild each day - but not easy when nature has been trashed My idea is that sometimes even if we look for that great wild thing in nature, it can be [...]

Birdgirl Blog 7 Days Not Very Wild – Day 1 – 1 July 2015 7 Days not very Wild - Trying to do something wild each day - but not easy when nature has been trashed My idea is that sometimes even if we look for that great wild thing in nature, it can be [...]

Birdgirl Blog Top 10 Tips on How to be a Birder   A Young Birder's Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at Chew Valley Lake Photograph taken by and copyright Oliver Edwards Photography Last year I was interviewed by Ben Hoare, the features editor at BBC Wildlife Magazine, for an article in BBC Countryfile Magazine. I met Ben [...]

Birdgirl Blog Being One of Bristol’s Most Influential Young People Clifton Suspension Bridge during International Balloon Fiesta, Bristol My home city is Bristol. We live just outside but that is where my parents used to live and work. We go there a lot as most of my family live there and that’s where we go [...]

Birdgirl Blog Autumn and the Persecution of our Birds My local patch, Chew Valley Lake, Somerset (Avon) Photograph taken by young birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig Autumn Autumn is always one of the best times of year for birding. With birds migrating through or coming to stay for the winter, there are lots to see. This [...]

Birdgirl Blog Second open letter to BBC Wildlife Magazine This is my second letter to you in response to your article "Are naturalists an endangered species?" and an invitation for more views on this topic. I just wanted to expand and make clearer the points I made in my letter to you (long and short [...]

Birdgirl Blog Letter to BBC Wildlife Magazine I am a 12 year old girl trying to juggle my obsession with nature and conservation with being an ordinary pre-teen. Your article “Are naturalists an endangered species?” was interesting but frustrating to read. Whenever this topic is discussed, even though you are talking about what children think, [...]

Birdgirl Blog Sabah, Borneo, August 2014 Part 3 And so our six-week trip to Malaysia and Borneo continues. After birding in the east of the Malaysian state of Sabah, we caught a flight to the west coast, to the capital, Kota Kinabalu.  Here we stayed outside the centre of town, which was perfect for driving [...]

Birdgirl Blog Sabah, Borneo, Aug 2014 Part 2 Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at Kinabatangan River, Sabah, Borneo Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig The Kinabatangan River is in the north east of Sabah, Borneo and was the most amazing place for wildlife watching. On our third day, the herd of Bornean Asian Pygmy Elephants were [...]

Birdgirl Blog Sabah, Borneo, Jul 2014 Part 1 Our four week trip to Borneo started with us arriving at Sandakan on the East coast of Sabah.  The Island of Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is made up of Malaysian States of Sabah and Sarawak, Indonesian Kalimantan and the tiny State [...]

Birdgirl Blog The Big Garden Birdwatch I didn't find one of these on my Big Garden Birdwatch! Myrtle Warbler, Durham, February 2014 Photograph taken by and copyright Chris Bromley I went to see a Myrtle Warbler on the 9th of Feb 2014, which I’d never seen before. It is from North America, and at this [...]

Birdgirl Blog Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig – Born to Bird I’m Birdgirl: I’m seriously into nature, but especially birds. I went on my first twitch when I was nine days old to the Isles of Scilly for a Lesser Kestrel. (Yes Dad, I know I can’t count it). My dad’s a birder and my mum’s a [...]