This FREE online opportunity is not affilitaed with Aiken Audubon, but you may be interested in this bird-themed activity with a local artist! From Saraiya Kanning with Raebird Creations:

I’ve completely fallen in love with a bird most people have never heard of: the Pinyon Jay.

Over the last few months, I’ve been writing and illustrating an article for Birding magazine. In the process of interviewing 5 wildlife biologists and reading an extremely niche book on the species, I’ve learned so much.

Pinyon Jays are present in Colorado, where I grew up and now live, and where I saw my lifer in my teens. (In birding lingo, a lifer is the first time you ever see a species.) That color blue cannot be erased from memory, nor can their nasal, laughing calls. It’s wilderness distilled into one sound.

Right now Pinyon Jays are under review by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for potential listing under the Endangered Species Act. Their populations have declined an estimated 80% or more since the 1960s. It’s heartbreaking.

These birds are an iconic piñon–juniper woodland species. They help keep piñon forests alive through their cyclical relationship with piñon cones. And they are sheer FUN. Chatty, gregarious, and full of personality in classic jay fashion. I simply can’t imagine the world without them.

So I invite you to a short and FREE online art workshop where we’ll celebrate these spunky, spirited birds.

You don’t need to be an “artist” (whatever that means). You don’t even need to be a birder.
Maybe you’re someone who, like me, can’t stand to watch a species fade quietly. Maybe you’re someone who doesn’t quite know what to do about this ongoing planetary disarray and habitat loss.
We won’t be numb. Instead we’ll make art and fill the world with hand-drawn Pinyon Jays. Maybe they’ll fly right off the page and repopulate the forests in droves. It’s a start, anyway. A little corner of hope we’ll make together.
We’ll be drawing inspiration from the wonderful photos of Maresa Pryor-Luzier. @mpluzier

To register, email: raebirdcreationsart@gmail.com
The workshop is limited to 100 participants. If there’s enough interest, I’ll schedule another. 💙