UCF Knighthawk Audubon Campus Chapter Brings Nature Journaling to Campus

When planning their upcoming semester of actions, the officers of Knighthawk Audubon – the campus chapter situated on the College of Central Florida — threw round completely different concepts. Birding, after all; walks in nature; however what about of us in search of a gentler introduction to birding?

Two of  their officers — Vice President Si Zhang (a Conservation Leadership Initiative alum) and Treasurer Hannah Hokenson — attended the Audubon Florida Meeting in October and loved the character journaling session there. Why not take it again to the College of Central Florida?

“Through the years I have been surrounded by birders,” Knighthawk Audubon President Tara Haubrich (and one other Conservation Leadership Initiative alum!) defined. “I’ve additionally discovered that almost all of us love drawing, and particularly love drawing birds, so we thought it might be an satisfying social occasion for our membership to carry.”

The Knighthawks held their nature journaling occasion in February, prompting the biggest common physique assembly turnout since Haubrich has been the president of the Knighthawks. “We supplied journals, pencils, and snacks and repeated the identical three nature journaling actions (pace drawing, blind contour drawing, and approaching the outside with curiosity and surprise) that Meeting taught us,” she continued. “It significantly shocked me that the occasion allowed lots of our members to open up and chat with us and one another, often our conferences might be on the quiet aspect, however this occasion actually let everybody come out of their shells.”

The Knighthawks needed their members to stroll away from the occasion with a brand new and extra approachable method to interact with nature and birds. “Conventional birding focuses on fast identification abilities that may be intimidating to newbie birders, so we needed to introduce a enjoyable, decrease stress apply that also inspired commentary and connection to nature,” Haubrich added. “We hope that our members left understanding that birding could be a artistic course of that’s accessible at any talent degree, and that there are various methods to be aside of the birding neighborhood!”