LETTER FROM MADALYNN

Dear Roaring Fork valley Audubon,

I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to go to a week long birding adventure!

This past June RFA gave me a full scholarship to the Bird Conservancy of the rockies Taking Flight Camp. This camp is a week long adventure that included birding, hiking, team building, rock climbing, canoeing, great food and a lot of time outdoors in nature.

One of the best things about the trip was that we did this thing called “ sit spots” which is where we picked a spot in nature either around the pond, in the forest or in the meadow and we sat in this spot for a little while each day and sketched or wrote about what we observed, noticed or how we felt. I picked to sit along the edge of the pond. Each day we walked to the pond and on Tuesday we came around the corner and two moose where standing on the opposite side of the pond! This is a great example of how amazing nature is to be in.

My favorite memory of the trip was canoeing. Canoeing was so fun because the day we did it we all finally new each other and trusted each other. The beginning of the trip I was very nervous because I did not know anyone there and I did not know what to expect but in the end it was everything I wanted it to be. The only thing I would change is to not be as shy and don’t wait for people to come to you, you need to go to them.