Ornithophilia

Mutiny Bay Beach

Govinda's Guillemot Tattoo

Aldo Leopold often wrote that places must be experienced via sensory connection in order to fully understand them. "Harmony with the land is like harmony with a friend", he once said. Similarly, within the field of geography, the phenomenological geographers Relph and Tuan have noted that people tend to connect with particular ‘nodes’ in space  that have meaning and significance. Using the term ‘place’ to describe such visceral areas among spatial landscapes, these authors have noted that places are deeply linked to life histories, social processes, and individual experiences. In other words, we all have special places that are richly connected to our backgrounds, identities, and interests. Whidbey Island COASST volunteer Govinda Rosling shared one of her special places with me today – Mutiny Bay Beach.

A Pigeon Guillemot taking flight after feeding young.

Not only does Govinda’s history with this island draw her to Mutiny Bay, but she’s had some nudging from a special alcid as well – the Pigeon Guillemot.Her work with Guillemots started with an internship in college and has grown more intense through her dedicated efforts with COASST and the Guillemot Research Group on the island. So deep is Govinda’s connection to these birds that she sports a beautiful tattoo of a Guillemot in flight. Much like biophilia (a love of place), Mark Bonta has coined the word ornithophilia to describe a love of birds. Exploring the sandy nooks of Mutiny Bay with Govinda today while watching Pigeon Guillemot’s deliver fish to their cavities in adjacent bluffs, it comes as no surprise that Govinda demonstrates both in good measure!