Celebrating pride in the community and out in nature

Wagenaar (pictured) has been offering bird walks through the City of Nanaimo for about a year. Photo: Lauryn Mackenzie / CHLY 101.7fm

June is Pride Month, and a local bird enthusiast is encouraging people to not only celebrate pride in the community but also out in nature.

Madison Wagenaar is a local bird enthusiast, passionate about teaching people about the interesting and sometimes strange life of native birds in the area.

It was when she was going to school at Vancouver Island University, majoring in biology and specializing in ecology, where she found her passion for animal behaviour, particularly bird behaviour.

“I only really started birding during the pandemic. [We] couldn't really go outside and do things, [but we could] do this in your backyard, and I really got into it,” Wagenaar said. “So I went from knowing no birds to about like 200 overnight. I'm definitely not a pro by any means, but I am pretty good about all the birds in the area.”

Wagenaar has been offering monthly bird walks through the City of Nanaimo for about a year. During the walks, she showcases the different species of birds in the area for interested community members and already established bird watchers, also known as “birders.”

CHLY met with Wagenaar at Buttertubs Marsh Park to talk about why she wants to encourage more queer people into the hobby.

As the marsh is a bird and wildlife sanctuary, the place is a bird watcher's paradise and where Wagenaar does her bird walks.

She said about 30 different species of birds can be found in the marsh, including different species of animals such as beavers, deer, and turtles.

For Pride Month, Wagenaar wants to encourage more people a part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community to try out birding. 

“It's one of these hobbies that I feel like anyone can do. You kind of just go out in nature and look for things, and it's really kind of right now, unfortunately, a very white person activity, typically older too,” she said. “You mostly see older people birding, and I really just would like to get more people out birding. It is a very accessible hobby to have, and I think that's mostly the reason why, but I just thought it'd be nice to make more community in Nanaimo as well.”

Wagenaar said other communities like Victoria and Vancouver have queer birding groups where members can be themselves without judgment.

“I just feel like there is a need for more queer people outdoors. I feel like there have been a lot of people who feel like they can't exist in these spaces,” she said. “A lot of my friends are queer and into nature, and I kind of want to make that bubble a bit bigger. I think there's kind of like a stereotype of people knitting and crocheting and baking and being queer, and I just want some, like outdoor, STEM, people as well. There are definitely people out in Nanaimo looking for that.”

Also for Pride Month, Wagenaar wants to highlight the more “queer” side of nature.

“Western gulls, we have them out here. Gulls are incredibly hard to identify, but western gulls are known to be in same sex relationships,” she said. “There are a lot of female western gulls who only mate with males to fertilize the egg, and then they go back to their female lover and they raise that egg together.”

Wagenaar said she hopes during this month, people a part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community will step out of their comfort zone and take part in new hobbies or communities that haven't always been known as “queer spaces.”

“I think hobbies can be enjoyed by everyone at this point,” she said. “Pickleball was more of an ‘older person sport,’ and now it's been really, everyone is playing pickleball now, so I think birding is the next pickleball.”

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.