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The first Sunday in spring (March 23) wasn’t the best day for birding – windy and brisk – but it WAS a great day to get together and continue to build community at Spring Creek Prairie ̽����ѡ Center.

Created back in the summer of 2016, the Let’s Go Birding Together program is a simple model of extending an invite to marginalized communities to get together and chat while enjoying the birds and trails on the tallgrass prairie at the center. That first event, inviting our partners from OutNebraska and the local LGBTQIA2S+ community to join us, was a success, bringing many new visitors to the prairie and providing a safe space for conversations to start and relationships to grow. “I wanted to especially add this event in March,” said Jason “the Birdnerd,” creator of the program and Sr. Education Manager at Spring Creek Prairie, “we wanted to remind our audience that birds and the prairie are for everyone. We see you and you are always welcome.”

Ever since, Spring Creek Prairie has hosted at least one, sometimes many, Let’s Go Birding Together outings and/or events in a year, using the wonder of birds to spark new visitors to become volunteers, members, donors, and friends. Our most recent March event, a way to de-stress from all the current stressors for the community, was no exception. While our group of 24 birders of all levels didn’t see much more than a Downy Woodpecker and a Killdeer due to the high winds, the time to chat and laugh together over bird trivia after the walk was well worth it. New partnerships were made, friendships forged, and a full room of folks felt safe and seen while learning that the American Bittern used to be called a “thunderpump!”

Spring Creek looks forward to hosting more events this summer for PRIDE month and continuing to use the model to invite other groups to get together around our shared love of birds and prairie.

So… Let’s Go Birding Together!