A space to belong
There are many urban myths in the UK about the presence of parakeets since they are "non-native" species that have been around for many years.
Even though space is not one of the primary senses, we engage with the space through our senses. Through my fieldwork with the group there space was frequently mentioned as a relevant part of the experience. As sound was the guide of our birdwalks, some of the participants talked about a “kind of intuition” that enabled them to wander nature and find the birds. “When I am walking through the park listening and watching the birds, it feels like I am in a different place. I feel like I am one with the space: the trees, the grass, the wind” said Anna.
How space was perceived shifted as the participants started learning more about birds. For example, Ash taught us about how kingfishers dive and how they circulate the space to find a good spot to stay and stare at the water in order to fish. Kingfishers need a certain height from the water in order to scam and properly launch themselves into the stream and catch their meal. Knowing how the bird engages with the display fo the environment alerts how the birders experience the space. “As I gain more knowledge about those little guys, I start empathizing with them. It is sort of like ‘Yeah, I get what you see in that branch and why you wanna hang in there’ I don’t know what a shamanic interaction feels like but maybe this is a similar thing or a starting point” shared Lio. Although there is always a distance one has to maintain when birding, the participants expressed how this physical distance was perceived differently when appreciating the particularity of the birds and listening to their sounds.
Another spatial quality frequently mentioned when I was interviewing the participants after the walks was the social space that was being conformed. As I asked the members of the group about what they feel was relevant when birding with a queer amateur group many of them noted the most important element of engaging in this dynamic was the safety of the social environment guaranteed because it is part of a broader community. On this, Ash explained: “I am non-binary, and I feel that this is the only space I can calmly enjoy an activity like birdwatching. Certainly, almost everything that I enjoy doing is in LGTBQ+ spaces. But when practicing an activity that is very close to science and rigid biological discourse it can be very triggering and threatening if I did it with people who may not understand my identity or even make questions about why I use my pronouns”. In addition, most participants expressed that they feel more comfortable practicing a hobby in a space where no one is the expert or the guide and everyone can add something to the experience by either pointing at some bird they spotted, sharing a fact or even a piece of news or a meme on the group chat.
