As part of my public artwork in St. Petersburg, I’m inviting the public to join me on a short bird-watching (+ listening) walk between the two bird silhouette sculptures in Historic Kenwood.
In my original application to be one of the artists designing the newest finials in the Historic Kenwood neighborhood of St. Petersburg, I called the concept for the metal bird silhouettes “Fly-By Bird: Look up and see one of our local big birds fly by – silhouetted against the sky.”
Since November, the metal pelican and ibis have been quietly flying over two street corners along 2nd Avenue North. And just like with real birds, passersby may or may not have noticed them. My intention with these public art pieces is as a reminder for all of us to make time to observe what’s around us and to celebrate our local nature. They can also serve as a reminder that nature gets along just fine without us and without us noticing it – but animals and plants can be greatly harmed by us.
Fortunately, in Historic Kenwood, we have a gardening culture that is of great benefit to animals and plants. So during this year’s International Great Backyard Bird Count weekend, I’m inviting neighbors and the general public to “make time and observe what’s around us and celebrate our local nature” during a short walk from the pelican finial (at 2nd Avenue N & 30th Street) along 2nd Avenue to the ibis finial (at 2nd Ave & 22nd St) on Sunday, February 20th.
We will meet at 2pm – and may be out for about an hour, maybe more. Bring binoculars, cameras, bird identifying apps and books. Afterwards, I’m inviting all participants into my backyard (with its bird feeders), for more bird nerd talk and some light refreshments.
While the afternoon isn’t necessarily the best time to observe birds – late February is a great time for migratory birds being on the move with many snowbirds still being among us. Fingers crossed…
As you can imagine, we can’t be too large of a crowd for the walk and for not chasing off all birds. So attendance is limited. Please RSVP to ahoi [at] luciwest.com to ensure you can be part of this event.
If you want to know more about the finials, please check out this earlier blog post: My First Public Art: Historic Kenwood Finials
If you want to know more about the Great Backyard Bird Count, please check out this article I wrote for Happier Place: What Is the Great Backyard Bird Count? And How Can You Join the Fun?