Christian Cooper and Amy Tan came to birding by very different paths. Long before an infamous Central Park incident brought Cooper national attention, birding was a place of refuge for him as a child. For Tan, birding is a more recent discovery, prompted by a need for an outlet away from turbulent political times. For both, birding has been a powerful source of solace and community. 

Join the New York Times for a live virtual event featuring Cooper, Tan, and others on Thursday, June 22, at 10 AM PDT, where they’ll explore those themes. They will also discuss our birding project with staff members from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and talk about some of the research efforts that your observations could help.

You can also read Amy Tan’s beautiful words in the foreword of Heyday’s beloved book How to Teach Nature Journaling, by John Muir Laws. Tan also references Laws’s work in her forthcoming book, The Backyard Bird Chronicles.