An intimate dialogue on birding culture, conservation & the human side of bird-watching
You catch a flash of color at the window and stop whatever you were doing. For a few seconds the day feels wider, and then the bird lifts off before you can name it or say much about where it came from. 🪶
Something similar happens with the wish to help the natural world. We care about wild places, we hear that our choices matter, and still the link between a Tuesday grocery run and a forest far to the south stays fuzzy. So the caring stays large while the action stays small.
That space between affection and effect deserves a fuller answer, and it happens to be the kind of conversation Voices With Vigor (VWV) was built to hold. Once a month, our growing community gathers for honest, unscripted talk about the things that stretch across a life. ✨
This December, I am delighted to welcome a writer and speaker who has turned a lifelong love of birds, nature, and art into a whole body of work about the people and culture of birding.
As the year winds down, most reflection turns toward rest, family, and looking ahead. The way our small decisions reach the living creatures around us rarely makes the list, and closing on that note feels like a fine way to end our year together.
This month’s theme follows that same spirit: “Building Bridges with Birds: Ending the Year on a High Note.”
☕ Wednesday, December 9 (10-11 am PT / 1-2 pm ET): Morning coffee with Bryony Angell
Bryony writes and speaks about birding culture and wild bird conservation from La Conner, Washington, where she settled in 2020. Her bylines appear in The Seattle Times, National Audubon, Cornell’s Living Bird, BWD, the American Birding Association’s Birding Magazine, and She Explores.
Her recent work covers how choices in travel, retail, and volunteering benefit wild birds, and how something as ordinary as shade-grown chocolate and coffee supports migratory species through agroforestry. In 2026, she presented “Birding For Her: A Decade of Observation of Women’s Visibility in the World Birding Scene” at the Biggest Week in American Birding.
We’ll talk about what birding culture is and how people find connection through it, how small everyday choices add up to conservation, the way traditional and newer approaches to birding can meet, and how one woman built a niche career around a passion.
We would be honored for you to join us. And, as always, you’re welcome to bring your own questions. 🌟
👉 REGISTER for this free, live, virtual event and explore the detailed landing page.
Raw, real, and authentic. VWV offers a rare opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue that challenges perspectives and sparks curiosity. It feels like being invited to eavesdrop on an important conversation, except you are welcomed in and encouraged to contribute. The audience is every bit as impressive as the guests, bringing their own insights and experiences to the exchange. I was grateful to be a guest on VWV and made some incredible connections as a result. The discussions tackle subjects that deserve greater attention, combining intellectual depth with humor and genuine emotion. These are voices worth hearing and conversations worth having. — Christine G. Anastos, Boston, Massachusetts
P.S. There is a certain freedom in learning that the walk you already take and the cup you already pour can reach a bird you may never see. I hope you’ll pull up a chair by the window. 🐦
Missed a live show? Catch the free on-demand video replay here.
Voices With Vigor… creating light with sound, one conversation at a time. 💫