Sunday 31 January 2016

Interview for Indiana Young Birder's Club


Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig in Queensland, Australia
Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig


At the end of last year I gave an interview to Indiana Young Birders' Club for their magazine, The Warbler which was published in their Fall Edition, http://bit.ly/23kiPBa

It was really interesting talking to young birder, Mathias Benko and hearing about the birding he gets up to.  The young birder scene is so much bigger and more developed in the USA, we have a lot we can learn over here where things are only just taking off.  I suppose the USA is so much bigger, it's understandable.  Looking at the state of Indiana, it is exactly the same size as the whole of the UK, including all four countries.


Maybe, so that our young birders have similar opportunities, we should start looking at young birders groups within Europe rather than just here in the UK.




So, Mya-Rose, where are you from and how old are you?

My name is Mya-Rose Craig (a.k.a. Birdgirl), and I'm 13 years old. I live in the countryside near Bath and Bristol, Somerset in the South West of the UK.



How did you first become interested in birds?

My Mom and Dad were birders as well as my big sis Ayesha. They carried on birding after I was born, just taking me with them everywhere they went. So, birding was something that I grew up with. When I was four, it was time for me to decide for myself. At that stage, my sister was a really cool sixteen-year-old, and I wanted to do everything she wanted to do. That was when I decided that nature and birds were what I cared about and what I wanted to do. I became obsessed pretty quickly after that. 

I was four when I went on my first world birding trip, which was to South Africa for four weeks. That was an awesome trip. As well as seeing birds like African Penguin and Ostrich, I was stalked by a lioness and her cubs in Kruger National Park, charged by a hippo when we got between it and water in Ndumo National Park, and almost fell into the high Sani Pass when we skidded towards a precipice on the way to Lesotho.



Do you have a favorite bird? Or birds? Why?

My favourite bird in the world is Southern Cassowary, which we saw in Queensland, Australia. They are blue and red on the head, can get to 6 feet tall, and are closely related to dinosaurs. They have a sharp hook on each foot that with one kick could kill you. We saw five in all, including 2 young birds being looked after by their dad.



What do your friends and family think about your love of birds and birding?

My immediate family shares my passion for birds, so we can do everything together. We go away for the summer trying to see as many of the birds in that country as possible. It is really hard work, as we often bird 6 AM to 6 PM and also sometimes go night birding in the evening, but I love it.

My wider family tries to be a bit supportive especially since I've been writings blogs, though not many of them read what I write. In the end though, they don't like it if we prioritise birding above seeing them.

My close friends have been at school with me since I was four years old. I was in a 2010 BBC documentary called Twitchers: A Very British Obsession, which my teacher showed everyone at school. My close friends watched that, so they know I'm a birder, but they don't show any interest in what I get up to. A couple of months ago, I was interviewed on BBC Springwatch, but even though I told them, none of them watched it. When another friend was on Junior Bake Off, everyone watched it and made a fuss of her. It might just be that because I've been on TV and Radio a few times already, so it's nothing special any more.

I don't really talk about birding to other people at school or my after school clubs like dance and scouts as they would think it's nerdy. As I appear in the local papers, some people still know I'm into birds. So, sometimes, if I'm being teased, I'll say "Well, I've earnt £250 for writing an article that only took half a day to write. What have you earnt?" That shuts them up!



I have heard that your life list is quite impressive. Exactly how many species of birds have you seen?

Some people think that if you keep a bird list, you somehow don't care about the birds or conservation. I think that when you tell someone your list, what you are really doing is encapsulating in a number how many years of birding you have done and how hard you have birded.

So, on that basis, my British List is 450. 400 used to be the number people tried to get to but now it's 500. I reached 400 when I was 9 years old, beating my sister's record of 12 years old. I saw my 450th bird recently when I was 13 years old, which was a Black Stork.

I got to 3000 when I was 11 years old in Queensland, Australia with Regent Bowerbird a beautiful black and yellow bird. Bowerbirds make bowers or displays to attract the female and are often plain looking. This is one of the exceptions as it is really beautiful and builds a wooden structure out of sticks. The photograph of me feeding Crimson Rosella was taken straight afterwards.

Then, I saw my 4000th bird this summer in East Africa. We visited Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya. My 4,000th bird was Red-throated Tit, which I saw on my first morning of birding in Kenya. I think I'm the youngest person to see 4,000 birds but if it's you, let me know.

I'd like to see 5,400 birds before I'm 18 years old, just because it would be amazing to see half the birds of the world by then.

I also fell in love with hummingbirds on my first trip to South America when we went to Ecuador in 2010. I saw a Sword-billed Hummingbird on my second day there, and I was like "OMG, that is cool, I want to see all of them!” I have now seen exactly half of all the hummingbirds of the world, 170 out of 340. Some are very rare and endangered, so seeing them all will take a lot of dedication and focus and is still likely to be impossible.



What is the coolest bird you’ve ever seen? 

That is so hard! Probably Sword-billed Hummingbird. Its bill is longer than its body, and when it's hovering and feeding on nectar, it looks impossible. I have made some hand printed Birdgirl T-shirts that have a Sword-billed Hummingbird on the front. So, it is the bird that represents me.



Who is someone in the birding or environmental world you would consider to be your mentor?

Unfortunately, I don't have anyone who is a mentor to me, apart from my parents and sister who are very supportive and also care a lot about the world. We talk a lot about birds, animals, conservation, environmental issues, and human rights (which are often linked to environmental issues. For example, the rights of indigenous people.) Birding around the world, I have witnessed environmental disasters as well as successful conservation projects. Seeing this kind of thing first-hand has made me want to do and say what I can, and I strive to be a real activist.



In terms of being inspired, there are quite a few people who have inspired me: Sir Peter Scott (who set up WWT and WWF and son of the Antarctic explorer Captain Scott), Sir David Attenborough (for bringing wildlife and conservation to the masses), Bill Oddie (a 1970's comedian and birder who brought birding and live nature programmes to our screens), and Steve Backshall (presenter of CBBC's Deadly 60, which introduced my generation to special animals). He has also been on expeditions to remote places, looking for new species.

I'm lucky because the BBC Natural History Unit, which makes all of these programmes, is based in Bristol where I live. A lot of people who work there live in my area, the Chew Valley.



Where is your favorite place to bird? 

I actually love birding at my local patch, Chew Valley Lake, where I also go bird banding at a banding station. I like seeing the changes over the year and the excitement of scarce birds, including American shorebirds like Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and Long-billed Dowitcher.

I write a monthly column for my local paper, The Chew Valley Gazette, where I suggest birds for people to look out for at the lake that month. Lots of people at the BBC read my column, which is amazing. 

The favourite place I've birded is Bolivia. The altiplano is on a huge scale, the habitats are varied, the area has been not been as affected by habitat destruction, and the people are genuine and welcoming. Our guide, Sandro, was from an indigenous tribe deep in the Amazon, and only ten years ago used to be a hunter wearing a loincloth.

The birds were also brilliant and beautiful, although purely on bird numbers, you can see more in neighbouring Peru.



Do you have a bird you would like to see as soon as possible?

The bird I would like to see most in the world is a Harpy Eagle. It's one of the biggest eagles in the world and lives in South America. I think we'd have to make a special trip in the spring to Venezuela or Brazil whilst a chick is still on the nest to see one, though.



What is your favorite field guide?

The best field guide for Britain is the Collins Guide. It's actually a fantastic field guide with amazing illustrations by Lars Johnson.

I also use the Sibley North America field guide, which is useful for the regular North American rarities that we get in the UK.



Do you like to take pictures or draw sketches of the birds you see?

I try and take photographs of birds I see. I either use a bridge camera or digiscope using my iPhone. I'd like a better camera to use when I'm world birding, but anything decent is too heavy for me to carry all day everyday. Also, when we are birding abroad, we are usually on a tight schedule, so there isn't time to spend ages getting good shots.



I would like to draw birds better and went to a sketching workshop at Camp Avalon, a young birders’ camp that I arranged in June. Hopefully, this has improved my technique.



How many continents and countries have you been to?

I have been to six continents but will be going to Antarctica, my seventh continent, at Christmas.

I have been to 29 countries, but I will have been to 33 by the end of the year.

I would really like to do more birding in North America as I have only spent a day there.





Tell us about what you have done to promote conservation efforts.

Talking about conservation projects is really important to me. I try and highlight these projects through my blog, giving talks, and publicising them in the media.

One of these projects is protecting shorebirds (especially the Spoon-billed Sandpiper), particularly in Bangladesh where my Mom's family is from. I travelled there earlier this year to survey them, give a talk, and do interviews on TV, Radio and national papers.

I have also promoted shorebird conservation through Wader Quest, and by being Ambassador of the Global Conservation Initiative, World Shorebirds Day.

Last year, following an oil spill in the Sundarbans in Bangladesh (the world's largest mangrove and home of the rare Masked Finfoot and Bengal Tiger), I worked hard to promote the disaster, writing about it in the ABA Blog, and raising approximately $30,000.

I write regular blog posts about conservation issues on subjects like palm oil, GMOs, the decline of bees, and fox hunting. I am also addressing a climate change rally on 29th November 2015, which is one of many rallies around the world in the lead up to the UN Climate Change talks in Paris. It would be great if as many people as possible attended a rally.



What do you think is the most important thing we can do to protect the environment?

There are so many issues going on in the world, but if I had to choose one to stop completely, it would be habitat destruction on land and sea. I have seen the impact of logging, cattle farming, palm oil, and fishing globally.

However, in Europe, lots of terrible things are happening that will remove the protection of habitat in place now. Bigger than that is the proposed TTIP trade agreement being negotiated between the European Union and the United States of America. This will allow American companies to sue our governments directly if, for example, they don't like an environmental law put in place that reduces their profits. This is what companies can do in America already, and the same tactics have been used by chemical companies to stop the States from bringing in legislation for GMO labelling of food.



Do you want to make conservation your life?

I would like to carry on birding but as well as that, yes, I would like to concentrate on conservation. At the moment, I hope to study Zoology at University and then go on expeditions to remote countries, looking for rare species and how they are doing, and then working out what conservation plan is needed to save them and how that can be implemented. If this is filmed along the way to raise awareness, that would be great.



Is there a certain environmentalist that you look up to?

I think that U.S. Actors like Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, and Mark Ruffallo are really important for publicising environmental issues. The recent Vivienne Westwood project by actors to save the Arctic was inspiring.

In the UK, I respect Tony Juniper (former Executive Director of Friends of the Earth UK) and George Monbiot (a writer and columnist for leftwing Guardian Newspaper).



Do you have any advice for the young birders reading this?

I would just say follow your passion. Nothing in birding or conservation is fair, and people will tell you along the way what you should or shouldn't do. Hear what they say, but do what you want. Being a young birder is the time to enjoy yourself. It's not a competition; it is meant to be fun.



Is there anything else you would like to say? 

Just thanks for asking to interview me, and I hope to make it over to your conference next year.

About the Writer


Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig on Scilly
Photograph taken by and copyright Chris Craig


Mya-Rose Craig is a 13 year old young birder, naturalist, conservationist, environmentalist, activist, writer and speaker. She is based near Bristol and writes the successful Birdgirl Blog, with posts about birding and conservation from around the world. She loved seeing Mountain Gorillas in East Africa and Penguins in Antarctica over Christmas 2015, her 7th continent. 


Mya-Rose is a Bristol European Green Capital Ambassador along with Kevin McCloud, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Tony Juniper, Simon King, Miranda Krestovnikoff and Shaun the Sheep! See the full list of Bristol Ambassadors. She has also been listed with the singer songwriter George Ezra and actress Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones as one of Bristol's most influential young people. Please like her Birdgirl Facebook Page and follow her on Birdgirl Twitter










American Birding Association Birding Magazine Article Dec 2015


In the December 2015 American Birding Association magazine "Birding" I was mentioned in an article on page 8 called "ABA's Young Birders: The Future is now" as I entered the ABA Young Birder of the Year competition 2015.




I was also mentioned in the birding milestones section on page 10 about be seeing my 4000th bird in the world and with a photo of my 4000th bird on the contents page (page 5)  http://bit.ly/1S2W7SC





Red-throated Tit, my 4000th bird in the world.


Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig taking a photo of a Red-throated Tit, Kenya
Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig


Red-throated Tit, Swaro Plains, Kenya
Photograph taken by and copyright 
Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig 




Also on the Audubon Magazine website, there is an article about me, which I am very proud of:

https://www.audubon.org/news/the-little-twitcher-who-could


About the Writer



Camp Avalon is the idea of Mya-Rose Craig, who also organised the event in 2015. She is organising the 2016 camp and hopes to attract more young birders and inner city teenagers.

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig on Scilly
Photograph taken by and copyright Chris Craig


Mya-Rose Craig is a 13 year old young birder, naturalist, conservationist, environmentalist, activist, writer and speaker. She is based near Bristol and writes the successful Birdgirl Blog, with posts about birding and conservation from around the world. She loved seeing Mountain Gorillas in East Africa and Penguins in Antarctica over Christmas 2015, her 7th continent. 


Mya-Rose is a Bristol European Green Capital Ambassador along with Kevin McCloud, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Tony Juniper, Simon King, Miranda Krestovnikoff and Shaun the Sheep! See the full list of Bristol Ambassadors. She has also been listed with the singer songwriter George Ezra and actress Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones as one of Bristol's most influential young people. Please like her Birdgirl Facebook Page and follow her on Birdgirl Twitter













Saturday 30 January 2016

Making Nest boxes with Cubs and Scouts

You might think that making nest boxes in sessions at Cubs and Scouts might not make much difference beyond the actual boxes that get put up.  You'd be completely wrong.



Chew Stoke Cubs with Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig
Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig


We made 15 boxes in Cubs and 10 boxes on Scouts which were spread between the member's primary schools and our comprehensive, Chew Valley School, who put them up in wildlife club.

However, the sessions themselves were practical and enjoyable but at the same time, they did a bird quiz naming birds, listened to a talk about Antarctica where apart from penguins and seals, I talked about my key message, "fight to stop anyone who wants to do anything to damage Antarctica".  Afterwards, lots of them contacted me asking me to post a video I mentioned of a Leopard Seal skinning a penguin.

Both groups were going on to do the RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch at the end of January and a nature badge and environmental badge, as well as checking on the nest boxes to see if they are being used and next year whether they need to be cleaned out.

Each of the local primary schools had a nest box and Chew Valley had 16 nest boxes. This is the link to the Chew Valley Gazette article about the project which is on page 46 http://bit.ly/25DqdpY and this was an article on the school website about the boxes http://bit.ly/1W1KSQj

About the Writer


Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig on Scilly
Photograph taken by and copyright Chris Craig


Mya-Rose Craig is a 13 year old young birder, naturalist, conservationist, environmentalist, activist, writer and speaker. She is based near Bristol and writes the successful Birdgirl Blog, with posts about birding and conservation from around the world. She loved seeing Mountain Gorillas in East Africa and Penguins in Antarctica over Christmas 2015, her 7th continent. 


Mya-Rose is a Bristol European Green Capital Ambassador along with Kevin McCloud, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Tony Juniper, Simon King, Miranda Krestovnikoff and Shaun the Sheep! See the full list of Bristol Ambassadors. She has also been listed with the singer songwriter George Ezra and actress Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones as one of Bristol's most influential young people. Please like her Birdgirl Facebook Page and follow her on Birdgirl Twitter










Tuesday 26 January 2016

Sexism in birding and nature conservation – Part 2





Since I wrote my first blog post on 2nd December 2015 http://birdgirluk.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/letter-to-bbc-wildlife-magazine-on.html, I have had lots of support. I really appreciate all of this; on Facebook Groups, my Facebook Page, Twitter and comments on my Blog.

Some of the advice has been given with really good intentions but without real understanding of the issues for girls like me.  Some people said that I should just appreciate how lucky I am to go on great birding trips (which I do), I should not worry about getting recognition (even though I only want recognition for what I and other girls achieve), I should stop blogging or having a presence on social media as that will stop the bullying (the bullying started way before I started my blog), that if I stopped trying to engage with people I would no longer feel let down and everything will be OK.  So basically all these problems have happened because I tried to have a public profile and brought it upon myself. I think this is genuinely what a lot of birders think, believing that they have a modern outlook. 

Some people did say "bullying is bad" but didn't actually say "I'm sorry that happened to you" before being critical. Someone went further to tweet that the young birders group which they were member was not involved. Despite messaging to say this was not true she didn't correct herself. If someone doesn't want to support me, unless are being rude to me, I don't care. But do I have to ignore things that are untrue?



Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig birding in Somerset
Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig

Sometimes I do think about stopping it all, but I realise that all the backlash will carry on even if I stopped birding, ringing, talks, conservation projects, blogging and my social media accounts.  Then all that would happen is that all these people (as women can be sexist too) would be saying “I told you she wasn't really interested in birding, it was her parents forcing birding on her and I knew she would stop in her teens”.

think that sexism in birding and nature conservation is there because these areas are still dominated by men, even if there are more women than there used to be.  People tend to like and respect people like themselves and that is the reason why young male birders are able to find prominent mentors from the nature conservation sector.

Women in higher roles are often trying to juggle work, sexism at work themselves  and a family life and just don't have the time for mentoring.

In this article I want to focus on the nature magazines. I have nothing against these magazines and at times they have been personally supportive of me.  However, just being nice to me and a few other female birders is not enough, they still need to ensure that men and women are being recognised fairly and that they understand the strong influential role that they play.

BBC Wildlife Magazine has a female editor, but I think if you always do things in the same way, things don't change. In May 2015, they had a big piece on ‘The Wildlife Powerlist – Britain’s Top 50 Conservation Heroes’. The write up said "Who has the potential to change the fortunes of wildlife and the way we experience the natural world over the next decade?  We asked a team of experts to nominate conservationist, scientists, broadcasters, artists and writers to identify the 50 most influential people in British Wildlife…"




The 50 were chosen by the magazine’s advisory panel of 30 middle aged men (or older) and 2 women (again older) and ‘other’ experts.  I would like to know who the other experts were and whether there were more men than women.  The result was that only 12 out of 50 chosen were women, with 2 out of the top 10 being women.  Jane Goodall was number one, but no one can argue with that? How can that be accurate, with so many women involved in the conservation sector? Was the outcome because it was men who voted or was it because women are not recognised for what they do? Maybe because they don't shout about what they are doing as much as men?  I think next time, they could try to focus on coming up with female names, who are as good and powerful as the men.






This month Birdwatching Magazine featured an article “Bird Watching, The Next Generation – Meet the young birders making a difference” which was in conjunction with the BTO. On the front page was a teenage girl looking through a telescope, which looked promising.  First a 4 page article by 24 year old wildlife photographer Luke Massey on a trip back to his roots in France.

Then a 6 page article from the BTO’s Ieuan Evans on how young birders can get involved with BTO and other projects (great, I have been ringing and doing nest box surveys for 4 over years). On page 1 was a photo of a girl ringing and on page 6 one of a young boy birding.  It’s good to have the photo of a girl but it would have much better if a woman from the BTO had written the piece.  The BTO has lots of capable women.

Then a ½ page article by Findley Wilde age 13 year old on his concerns on conservation.

Then finally, a 4 page article by Nicola Boulton about working as a wildlife guide and photographer in Western Scotland.

So of the articles, 1 out of 4 are written by a woman.  It was good that there were two photos of girls birding and ringing but this is bit shallow if they are not given the chance to write.

Then there are a number of young  people, under the heading “One to Watch”.  I know most of them and they are great birders in influential in our field.  I am not saying that they didn't deserve to be listed but I don't think they are the only possible people that could have been included in this category. There was only 1 girl out of 7 people. This is my main issue.  Were these people chosen by the BTO or the magazine?  There are lots of amazing young female birders/ringers out there and I think this was a missed opportunity to showcase more of them.  I know from Twitter that the magazine certainly was told about lots of them.



Sorrell Lyall,  Nathan Burch,  Alex White, Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig, Billy Stockwell
at The Wildlife Trusts Every Child Wild Podcast on how to get young people into nature

Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig


Additional comments

There are situations where even if there isn’t actual sexism, there is an inequality between men and women in birding and nature conservation.

Are the number of women who come into our field impacted by the fact that it appears to be dominated by men?

Would there be more women taking up the hobby, if women were more visible?
  
Birdwatch Magazine Birders’ Choice Awards 2015

Again I personally have a good relationship with the magazine and so my comments are not meant to be taken personally by them or anyone who won.





Birdwatch Magazine announced their awards in October 2015 and anyone could vote on-line.

Four categories were for people:

Conservation hero of the year – Choice of 5/5 men
Local hero – to be nominated by voters
Blog of the year – Choice of 4 men/2 women
Best Book – Choice of 4 men/2 women

Results were announced on 27/12/15, with all the winners being male, who I am not at all disputing their winning.





Conservation Hero - Chris Packham, winning outright
Local hero – Nominated by readers, the magazine highlighted 11 men/2 women, with the winner being a man
Blog of the year – Mark Avery, winning outright with a woman second (me!)
Book – Martin Garner, which was particularly lovely as he died not long afterwards

Why are those at the top dominated by men?  Is it because there aren’t enough women, so they don’t get to the top or is it because men are promoted more than women? Particularly our female nature presenters? Where are they? Where are my role models? Where are my mentors?


Our nature media has to be more inclusive and balanced, publishing writing from men and women and be ethnically diverse where possible.  Following my approach to the 4 big NGO’s on the issue of ethnic diversity, the RSPB and The Wildlife Trusts have been using images of ethnic minority children and young people.  This is something the nature magazines need to focus on as well.

I hope the next time articles like this are written, women are fairly recognised and represented.  



Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig birding in Somerset
Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig


About the Writer



Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig on Scilly
Photograph taken by and copyright Chris Craig


Mya-Rose Craig is a 13 year old young birder, naturalist, conservationist, environmentalist, activist, writer and speaker. She is based near Bristol and writes the successful Birdgirl Blog, with posts about birding and conservation from around the world. She loved seeing Mountain Gorillas in East Africa and Penguins in Antarctica over Christmas 2015, her 7th continent. 

Mya-Rose is a Bristol European Green Capital Ambassador along with Kevin McCloud, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Tony Juniper, Simon King, Miranda Krestovnikoff and Shaun the Sheep! See the full list of Bristol Ambassadors. She has also been listed with the singer songwriter George Ezra and actress Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones as one of Bristol's most influential young people. Please like her Birdgirl Facebook Page and follow her on Birdgirl Twitter









Sunday 24 January 2016

Birdgirl’s Highlights of 2015



Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig birding locally on the Somerset Levels


2015 was a great year for me, with so much happening.  It’s hard to remember it all, but thought I’d have a got at putting it all together!

I went local birding and ringing most weekends.

I wrote 247 blog posts during 2015 and my blog ended the year on 900,000 views. I wrote about my best animals and birds for 2015 http://bit.ly/20150R8 and my favourite blog posts http://bit.ly/1RPXCbM

This is my video about trekking for amazing Mountain Gorilla youtu.be/abuqEr6KnnA

I also took part in the BBC Wildlife Magazine Local Patch Reporters and had the highest number of posts at 272 for the year and also the highest number of views with 49,500 views http://bit.ly/1SkH5NC

I also ended the year with 7,900 likes on my Facebook Page http://on.fb.me/1P5yGrb and 1100 followers on Twitter http://bit.ly/1yoslnK

The summary of my year is - Awards - 7, Television interviews - 6, Radio interviews 4, Newspaper and magazine articles - 31, Interviews, meetings and letters - 28, Guest blogs 17, Workshops and events 29, Talks given by me 11, Talks I attended 9, Twitches - 7 and World birding trips - 7



Awards

  • 01/01 At the end of 2014, I was nominated for 2014/2015 as one of Bristol’s most influential young people by Rife Magazine along with Singer Songwriter George Ezra and actress Maisie Williams http://bit.ly/1AKR0BJ
  • 02/01 I received “Letter of the Month” for my letter about getting kids into nature and won a pair of walking boots
  • 22/01 I received an award from my science teacher for all my efforts in birding and conservation projects, which meant a lot
  • 10/03 BBC Wildlife Magazine awarded me “Blogger of the Week” for my blog post on surveying Spoon-billed Sandpiper in Bangladesh
  • 05/10 I was made a Bristol European Green Capital 2015 Ambassador along with Simon King, Tony Juniper and Miranda Krestovnikoff and other TV celebrities http://bit.ly/1MTBUfB
  • 26/10 Birdwatch Magazine announced their Birders’ Choice Awards for 2015 and listed me in their shortlist for their Blog of the Year category http://bit.ly/1nwEC5i
  • 28/12 The BBC Wildlife Magazine announced that in the category for Young Blogger of the Year, I was awarded Highly commended
  • 28/12 Birdwatch Magazine announced the results (from voting) of their Birders’ Choice Awards for 2015 and I was mentioned as being runner up (after Mark Avery) in their Blog of the Year category and described me “At just 13 years old, she is a passionate conservationist and activist.”


Birdwatch Magazine Birders' Choice Awards Results


Birdwatch Magazine Birders' Choice Awards Results
showing Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig as runner-up in Blog of the Year Category

Television Interviews:

  • 21/01 I was filmed during an interview with a team of two from Channel S and broadcast on 11 Feb in the UK and Europe and on 13 Feb in Bangladesh on 24 hour news channel Ekkator TV
  • 31/01 I was filmed by a team of three from the BBC Natural History Unit giving a talk at WWT Festival of Birds
  • 01/02 I was filmed during an interview for WWT about their Festival of Birds
  • 21/02 I was filmed during an interview with Jamuna TV in Dhaka. This was shown on the 1st March in Bangladesh and the link is http://bit.ly/iBmYqYh and I am on at 10.27 minutes
  • 26/05 I was filmed live during an interview for Springwatch extra about my birding


Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig being filmed at WWT Slimbridge


Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig being filmed at Jamuna TV, Bangladesh


Live Radio interviews:

  • 21/01 Interview with Shepherd Radio, local radio station, about Sundarbans oil spill
  • 08/03 Interview on BBC Radio Asian Network about me, Spoon-billed Sandpiper in Bangladesh and inspiring other Bangladeshi girls on International Womens’ Day
  • 11/03 Interview with Shepherd Radio, local radio station, about Spoon-billed Sandpiper in Bangladesh
  • 11/11 Interview with Shepherd Radio, local radio station about Africa and Bristol Green Capital


Birdgirl and Nadia Ali at interview with  BBC Asian Network


Newpapers and Magazines

  • 02/01 Article in the January edition of Chew Valley Gazette about being recognised by Rife Magazine as one of Bristol’s most influential young people along with Game of Thrones actress Maisie Williams who is also from the Chew Valley http://bit.ly/1Tv5Cid
  • 02/01 January edition of Chew Valley Gazette, where I have a column, about saving the Spoon-billed Sandpiper and World Wader Weekend on P52 http://bit.ly/1Tv5Cid
  • 09/01 Article in WWT website about my talk http://bit.ly/20gbAIW
  • 30/01 February edition of Chew Valley Gazette, where I have a column, about twitching Little Bustard on p14 http://bit.ly/1QAvbM7
  • 17/02 Article on Audubon Magazine (USA) “The Little Twitcher Who Could” http://bit.ly/1KPQJ2B
  • 22/02 Article in Prothom Alo in Bangladesh with the link http://bit.ly/1Dx1t6P
  • 24/02 Article in The Sunamganj Times http://bit.ly/1nxdm6G
  • 25/02 Article in The Daily Sunamkantha Times http://bit.ly/1KhPTfF
  • 27/02 March edition of Chew Valley Gazette, where I have a column, about surveying the Spoon-billed Sandpiper in Bangladesh p61 http://bit.ly/20AfCsd
  • 06/03 Article in the Bangladeshi Youth Magazine Kishor Alo http://bit.ly/1F6pRrc
  • 11/03 Article in The Daily Ittefaq in Bangladesh http://epaper.ittefaq.com.bd/
  • 03/04 Article in The New Nation English language paper in Bangladesh http://bit.ly/1yKIZKu
  • 24/04 May edition of Chew Valley Gazette, where I have a column, about giving a talk and birding on the Somerset Levels p55 http://bit.ly/1PJ7LAF
  • 01/05 Article in the Bangladesh Bird Club Jan-Mar 2015 Magazine about my visit to survey Spoon-billed Sandpiper and Dhaka talk
  • 29/05 June edition of Chew Valley Gazette, where I have a column, about GMO and the impact on our health and the environment p57 http://bit.ly/1Su3N4b
  • 26/06 Article that I wrote for the RSPB Birdlife Magazine Jul-Aug edition for children about how to identify waders and improve their skills
  • 28/08 September edition of the Chew Valley Gazette, where I have a column, about our trip to Uganda on p9 http://bit.ly/1NfCxVu
  • 28/08 September edition of the Chew Valley Gazette, article about World Shorebirds Day p9 http://bit.ly/1NfCxVu
  • 29/10 November edition of Bird Watching Magazine on p79 had a photograph of my with a nest box http://bit.ly/23AMnYJ
  • 30/10 November edition of Chew Valley Gazette, where I have a column, about seeing a Black Stork my 450th bird in UK on p44 http://bit.ly/1NIlEOl
  • 01/11 The Western Daily Press on-line (a Bristol newspaper) published an article about me and seeing my 4000th bird species in the world http://bit.ly/1SQRYX6
  • 02/11 The Western Daily News on-line (Bristol) published an article about me and seeing my 4000th bird species in the world http://bit.ly/1QzHkAL
  • 02/11 The ITV West Country News on-line (Bristol) published an article about me and seeing my 4000th bird species in the world http://bit.ly/200bLTa
  • 04/11 The Metro Nationwide published an article about me and seeing my 4000th bird species in the world http://bit.ly/23AMnYJ
  • 04/11 The Daily Express (A National newspaper) published an article about me and seeing my 4000th bird species in the world http://bit.ly/23AMnYJ
  • 05/11 The Somerset Guardian (a West Country newspaper) published an article about me and seeing my 4000th bird species in the world http://bit.ly/23AMnYJ
  • 05/11 The Midsomer Norton and Radstock Journal (a Bath newspaper) published an article about me and seeing my 4000th bird species in the world http://bit.ly/23AMnYJ
  • 27/11 December edition of Chew Valley Gazette, where I have a column, about the terrible fires in Indonesia being caused by Palm Oil Plantations on p43 http://bit.ly/1QAjWTK
  • 01/12 Article in the American Birding Association (ABA) Magazine Birding in their “Milestones” section about me seeing my 4000th bird in the world
  • 02/12 I wrote a letter to BBC Wildlife Magazine about sexism in birding and nature conservation.  My blog post with the extended version of the letter has had 20,000 views http://bit.ly/1QAjmFu
  • 12/12 Article in Weston Daily Press, about my birding and inspiring teenagers in get into birds and nature

Article about Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig in Somerset Guardian 

Interviews, letters and Meetings

  • 11/01 Meeting at BBC Natural History Unit with Charlotte Crosse, Tim Scoones, Anne Gallagher and Rosemary Edwards
  • 17/01 Interview with Audubon Magazine, New York via Skype
  • 03/05 Meeting with George Fergurson, Bristol Mayor
  • 03/07 Meeting with my MP Jacob Rees-Mogg to discuss hunting with dogs
  • 01/07 Prepared a questionnaire and sent it to ethnic minority birders and conservationists, to try to find the issues related to lack of diversity
  • 04/07 Letter to teaching Unions about getting teenagers into wildlide and asking to speak at their annual conference
  • 05/07 Letter to RSPB, The Wildlife Trusts, The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust and The British Trust for Ornithology raising issues about the lack of ethnic diversity in nature and nature conservation
  • 06/07 Letter from Association of Science Educators (ASE) asking me to speak at their conference in Jan 2016
  • 06/07 Wrote to The Green Party, The Labour Party, The Liberal Democrat Party and The Conservative Party why it’s is important to educate our young people about nature and the environment and asking to speak at their party conference
  • 07/07 Letter from Green Party asking me to speak at their conference
  • 08/07 Letter from MP Jacob Rees-Mogg after our meeting
  • 12/07 I wrote a letter to my MP, Jacob Rees-Mogg about hunting with dogs http://bit.ly/1Vy7ViN
  • 13/07 Sent a video to my MP Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg, I am fox, http://bit.ly/1Sj4u22
  • 01/08 Interview with Charlotte Wasylik published on her blog Prairie Birder http://bit.ly/1P4tF20
  • 02/08 Letter from the Geographical Assocation asking me to speak at their next conference in April 2016
  • 15/08 Letter from Lib Dem Party with a positive response but saying that the conference was full
  • 25/08 Letter from Shadow Home Secretary Tristram Hunt to me about my wanting education about conservation and the environment in schools http://bit.ly/1TtjJ7x
  • 30/08 The Oriental Bird Club June 2015 Magazine, Birding Asia, had an article about my trip to Bangladesh to survey Spoon-billed Sandpiper and promote them http://bit.ly/1Ki9Ojh
  • 01/09 June 15 Edition of The Bittern, Somerset Ornithological Society’s Newsletter had an Article about Camp Avalon http://bit.ly/20eEQ2N
  • 28/09 Letter to Jeremy Corbyn about environmental issues and asking again to speak at the Labour Party Conference
  • 05/10 Meeting with Bristol European Green Capital 2015 organisers
  • 06/10 Interview with Wall Street Journal, New York via Skype
  • 11/10 Meeting and podcast with The Wildlife Trusts and Charlie Moores as part of their Every Child Wild Campaign and shown a month later http://bit.ly/1PMr2Yd
  • 29/11 Interview with Bristol Journalist Adanma Maduagwu
  • 05/12 Meeting with camera woman Anneliese Possberg about filming in Antarctica
  • 06/12 Interview with Audubon Magazine, New York via Facetime
  • 09/12 Interview with Audubon Magazine, New York via Facetime
  • 30/12 Interview with Matthias Benko of the Indiana Young Birders’ Club and published in their Fall Edition of their Magazine, The Warbler on page 2 http://bit.ly/1RTTgjX


Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig with The Wildlife Trust taking part in a podcast


Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig with Bristol Journalist Adanma Maduagwu


Guest Blogs I have written or articles

  • 08/01 Article on American Birding Association (ABA) website about the oil spill in the Sundarbans, which led to $30,000 being raised for the clean up, http://bit.ly/14vMr1A
  • 19/01 Article on The Wild Network website about Big Garden Birdwatch http://bit.ly/2dqhzre
  • 19/02 Article on World Shorebirds Day website, “A Young Birder’s view on shorebirds” http://bit.ly/1BgHDw6
  • 23/04 Article online on the Bangladeshi Environmental website 4matters.com http://bit.ly/1dmaTa1
  • 29/04 Article on A Focus on Nature website, What I want the natural world to look like by 2050, about GMO http://bit.ly/1Q2wH8Y
  • 01/05 Article on Beyond GMO website, What kind of World would I vote for? A GM free one http://bit.ly/1KhpzHc
  • 06/07 Article on Reflectiveteens.com website, What kind of World do I want? Sharing my thoughts on GMO http://bit.ly/2dHxyDO
  • 07/06 Article on 4matters.com website, What kind of World do I want? Sharing my thoughts on GMO http://bit.ly/1Kj5g9A
  • 30/06 Article for The Wildlife Trusts about their #30 Days Wild initiative http://bit.ly/1KZncI5
  • 01/09 Article in Avalon Marshes Newsletter about Camp Avalon
  • 11/09 Poem about waders (shorebirds) written for Waderquest Newsletter
  • 16/09 Article for Swarovski Optik Blog about East Africa and seeing my 4000th bird in the world http://bit.ly/1Tuc2xU
  • 30/10 I entered a video of my encounter with Mountain Gorilla in Uganda for the RSPB Caingorms Nature young presenter of the year competition 2015 http://bit.ly/1OY04tb
  • 10/11 Article in the American Birding Association Blog (ABA) about my trip to East Africa and the birds and animals we saw there and seeing my 4000th bird species in the world http://bit.ly/1nFdP7D
  • 25/11 Article for Swarovski Optik Blog about World Shorebird Days as their Ambassador http://bit.ly/23BG8Eg
  • 01/12 Article for The Wildlife Trusts for their Every Child Wild about focusing on getting teenagers into nature http://bit.ly/20A7Ajd
  • 03/12 Article I write for Bristol European Green Capital 2015 website as an Ambassador about “How teenagers can help save the Planet” http://bit.ly/1TuXgXV


Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig writing message for GMO guest blogs


Workshops & Events

  • 20/01 School visit to an Indoor Rainforest
  • 25/01 RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch
  • 28/01 RSPB’s Big Schools Birdwatch
  • 31/01 WWT Festival of Birds
  • 01/02 WWT Festival of Birds
  • 14/02 Wildlife Poetry Reading
  • 07/03 Bristol Naturalists Society Celebration in Bristol
  • 18/04 Leading a Family birding day at RSPB Ham Wall Reserve
  • 24/04 Chew Valley Bird Fair
  • 21/05 Leading a birding session for East Harptree Environmental Club
  • 26/05 Watching Springwatch Unsprung from the live audience and chatting to Chris Packham about world birding
  • 01/06 – 30/06 #30 Days Wild Project
  • 13/06 Bristol Festival of Nature
  • 14/06 Bristol Festival of Nature
  • 19/06 Avalon Marshes, Young Wardens Mothing Workshop
  • 19/06 Camp Avalon a camp for young birders and inner city teenagers, organised by me
  • 20/06 Camp Avalon a camp for young birders organised by me and inner city teenagers, organised by me
  • 21/06 Camp Avalon a camp for young birders organised by me and inner city teenagers, organised by me
  • 23/06 Demonstrating ringing at session with Bristol Nature Network
  • 26/06 Leading a session with Scouts to look for Nightjar on the Mendips
  • 27/06 Bath Festival of Nature
  • 06/09 World Shorebird Day spent at Spurn
  • 09/09 Mendip AONB Young Rangers, Working towards Muir Conservation Award
  • 19/09 Mendip AONB Young Rangers, Working towards Muir Conservation Award
  • 08/10 Ringing session with East Harptree Environmental Club
  • 17/10 Mendip AONB Young Rangers, Working towards Muir Conservation Award
  • 14/11 Mendip AONB Young Rangers, Working towards Muir Conservation Award
  • 23/10 Wildlife Film Roadshow, MShed and meeting Doug Allan and Simon King
  • 01/12 Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2015 Exhibition Preview in Bristol, meeting Mark Carwardine (Judge) and Ben Hoare (BBC Wildlife Magazine features editor)


Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig doing Big Garden Birdwatch

Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig doing Big Schools Birdwatch


Bristol Naturalists Society Celebration

Birdgirl Mya-Rose leading Family Birdwatching Day at RSPB Ham Wall



Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig leading Family Birdwatching Day at RSPB Ham Wall

Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig talking to Chris Packham and Biking Birder about world birding
Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig talking to Chris Packham and being bombed by Michaela Strachan

Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at Camp Avalon


Camp Avalon


Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig and Simon King at a Wildlife Film Roadshow


Talks given by me

  • 31/01 WWT Festival of Birds (particularly about the Spoon-billed Sandpiper Conservation Project)
  • 20/02 Born to Bird in Dhaka, talking particularly about the Bangladesh Spoon-billed Sandpiper Conservation Project with lots of Bangladesh Bird Club and media attending
  • 01/03 Born to Bird at Avalon Marshes Centre, The Somerset Levels
  • 24/05 Born to Bird at Scotland’s Big Nature Festival
  • 05/09 Oriental Bird Club AGM, talking about birding and seeing Spoon-billed Sandpiper in Bangladesh
  • 16/09 Born to Bird at Somerset Wildlife Trust Heart of the Levels Group, Somerton
  • 15/10 Born to Bird at Somerset Ornithological Society, Ruishton
  • 04/11 Born to Bird at Somerset Wildlife Trust Polden Group, Shapwick
  • 20/11 Born to Bird at Somerset Wildlife Trust Ilminster Group, Ilminster
  • 29/11 Addressing the Bristol Peoples’ Climate Rally on why teenagers are the future and need help to save the world.  This was part of 785,000 worldwide who marched leading up to the UN Conference on Climate Change December 2015 (COP21)
  • 08/12 Born to Bird, Bath Natural History Society with a focus on conservation projects I have been involved with


Birdgirl and Martin Spray WWT CEO at her talk at WWT Festival of Birds


Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig during Dhaka talk

Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig with Bangladesh Bird Club at Dhaka talk

Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig giving talk at Avalon Marshes Centre
Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at Bristol Peoples Climate Change Rally


Talks I have attended

  • 28/01/2015 Bristol Nature Network hosted a talk with Stephen Moss and Sam Jones
  • 01/02 Mike Dilger at WWT Festival of Birds
  • 04/03 Nature our Big Allay with Simon King, Miranda Krestovnikoff and Stephanie Hilbourne
  • 05/03 Mark Cocker, Nature Writer
  • 07/03 Tony Juniper on “What Nature does for Britain
  • 26/03 An event at Yeo Valley, watching the film OMG GMO! Followed by a discussion chaired by Stephen Moss
  • 09/06 How to be a badass vlogger, Rife Magazine
  • 13/06 Bill Oddie at Bristol Festival of Nature
  • 23/10 Nature, camera, action! The secret of making incredible wildlife films Exhibition, MShed
  • 23/10 Doug Allan, Antarctic Cameraman at Mshed

Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig with Mike Dilger after his talk

Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig with Tony Juniper after his talk


UK Twitches

  • 01/01 Little Bustard
  • 09/02 Laughing Gull
  • 25/04 Great Blue Heron
  • 29/04 Hudsonian Godwit
  • 04/05 Red-throated Pipit
  • 10/05 Citril Finch
  • 05/09 Black Stork my 450th bird species in the UK


Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at Hudsonian Godwit twitch


World Birding Trips

  • 14/02 – 22/02 Trip to Bangladesh including a Spoon-billed Sandpiper survey with Bangladesh Spoon-billed Sandpiper Conservation Project.
  • 18/07 – 13/08 Trip to Uganda including seeing Shoebill and Mountain Gorillas
  • 13/08 – 18/08 Trip to Rwanda
  • 18/08 – 31/08 Trip to Kenya including seeing my 4000th bird, Red-throated Tit
  • 12/12 – 19/12 & 30/12 – 04/01 Chile including King Penguins and Puma
  • 19/12 – 20/12 Falklands
  • 21/12 – 29/12 Drake Passage and Antarctica Voyage including Emperor Penguin and Snow Petrel


Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig surveying Spoon-billed Sandpiper in Bangladesh

Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig meeting local village children on Sonadia Island, Bangladesh


Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig watching Mountain Gorilla in Uganda


Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig camping on ice in Antarctica


Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig with Adeile Penguin and icebergs in Antarctica


Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig "hugging" a Gentoo Penguin in Antarctica (for her friends)


About the Writer



Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig on Scilly
Photograph taken by and copyright Chris Craig


Mya-Rose Craig is a 13 year old young birder, naturalist, conservationist, environmentalist, activist, writer and speaker. She is based near Bristol and writes the successful Birdgirl Blog, with posts about birding and conservation from around the world. She loved seeing Mountain Gorillas in East Africa and Penguins in Antarctica over Christmas 2015, her 7th continent. 

Mya-Rose is a Bristol European Green Capital Ambassador along with Kevin McCloud, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Tony Juniper, Simon King, Miranda Krestovnikoff and Shaun the Sheep! See the full list of Bristol Ambassadors. She has also been listed with the singer songwriter George Ezra and actress Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones as one of Bristol's most influential young people. Please like her Birdgirl Facebook Page and follow her on Birdgirl Twitter