By Douglas “Birdman” Gray, Outdoor Afro Contributor
As I reflect on my birding experiences over the last month, I’m greatly challenged once again to select a “Bird of the Month”. I’ve had some wonderful experiences while birding over the last month. Not only have I bird-watched with some great friends, but I’ve also seen some birds that have a certain…“WOW!”…factor about them.

This month’s bird? I have to go with the American White Pelican. This is a compelling choice because, and I could be wrong, but I …

When visiting the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park years ago with my sister Delane in the summer, we both noticed the promotional materials for the winter Bracebridge Dinner and absentmindedly added it to our bucket list as an experience to have at least once in our lifetime. So imagine my pleasant surprise, when I learned my Bracebridge moment would come this year!

Outdoor Afro friends Frank and Audrey Peterman were invited, courtesy of the Deleware North Company, to take part in this historic Christmas Pageant penned by John Muir, as Visiting …

Check out this guest blog by friend Dudley Edmondson from his blog, Fit Guy Outdoors, which currently highlights a birding trip from the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival that includes some more Outdoor Afros you may recognize!
left to right: Drew Lanham,Dave Mapgiong, Roy Rodriguez,Douglas Gray, Jeremiah Alexander, Me
Had the pleasure last week of being invited to the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival in southern Texas. Had no idea that I would have so much fun. I was flown in to accompany attendees to designated birding location and help them identify …

Dianne Glave, Atlanta-based environmental author and Outdoor Afro friend, attended the annual Keeping it Wild Gala last night, a fundraiser for the organization that was created in 2005 by several Atlanta citizen-advocates who perceived the need to bring together members of diverse conservation communities to promote stewardship for the natural lands in the area. Following are Dianne’s reflections on the event, originally posted on her fantastic site:

Sometimes  better, sometimes easier, to start with endings than beginnings . . .
I sat in the amphitheater at Zoo Atlanta listening to Shelton Johnson. …

Remember the Outdoor Nation Youth Summit of over 500 youth from all over the US last June in New York City’s Central Park I attended? Well, the event organizers, the Outdoor Foundation, just released the data collected from the participants, and the findings are fascinating, resulting in a report that offers five top recommendations to President Obama to inform his America’s Great Outdoors Initiative including:

1. Engage, Employ and Empower Youth by working with Outdoor Nation and its community of Outsiders.
2. Engage Youth in the Outdoors during the School Day by collaborating …

Photos by Rob Brodman

I had the fortunate opportunity to attend the  Bay Area Open Space Council Conference organized by Breaking the Color Barrier alumna and Executive Director Bettina Ring to celebrate and reflect on 20 years of conservation in the Bay Area and beyond. At the capacity filled event in the beautiful Presidio Club House was a dynamic mix of individuals and organizations who shared a range of data and stories: from the good news of how the San Francisco Bay Area has benefited from preserving its open spaces, to the …

In keeping with the theme of cycling, I was just “tagged” on Facebook by fellow cyclist and ED of Richmond Spokes, Brian Drayton in the following photos:

The photos are of Marshall “Major” Taylor, which were a pleasant surprise, as I had no idea that he even existed!
More about this man’s life can be found here and here. But basically, he was a turn of the century record breaker in cycling who also broke through the lines of discrimination.
But the most poignant reason to share these images, is that they are yet …

“African Americans have a somewhat unknown heritage in the historical realm of birding”
Outdoor Afro interviews Douglas Gray, an avid birder, who shares in his own words the gratification he experiences birding, and why it is an important and relevant activity for anyone.
How did you develop an interest in birds?
My interest in birds started as a young child.  I grew up on my grandfather’s farm outside Clarksville, Tennessee (actually Woodlawn, Tennessee, but “Woodlawn” is a lot harder to find on a map!).  Naturally I would see many birds on the farm, …

By Paul Richardson
“The sport of kings”
I am pretty sure some of you have heard that phrase before, but did you know that in some circles, it also refers to the sport of surfing? Earliest reports say that the first recorded observation of people surfing was 1779 in  Hawaii. While I am not trying to steal Hawaii’s thunder on this one, I think there’s a pretty good chance that somewhere else in the world around that time others were “surfing”. In any event, as far as the “written” history is concerned, …

I just got back from Washington DC on Monday after participating on behalf of the Outdoor Afro community in the first ever America’s Great Outdoors conference. This event was designed to bring leaders from around the country to discuss ways to re-connect Americans to the Great Outdoors and hosted the historic signing of the Presidential Memorandum on the topic.
Last Thursday night was the  pre-conference mixer at the Department of Agriculture, where we heard from the Department of the Interior (Ken Salazar), Department of Agriculture (Tom Vilsack), Council on Environmental Quality (Nancy Sutley), …