Our region acts as a stopover for many birds that travel along the Atlantic Flyway. A new documentary takes a closer look at that migratory path.
Flyway of Life will premiere at the SHU Community Theatre in Fairfield on Earth Day — April 22.
WSHU’s Sabrina Garone spoke with the filmmaker behind the project, Tomas Koeck. The Connecticut native and Explorers Club member said birds are what connect all ecosystems in our region and beyond.
WSHU: Why birds?
TK: A lot of people will go outside and hear birds singing in their backyards, but they don't know where these birds come from. Like, you ever get up on a nice spring morning, and you hear all these new noises that you didn't hear the previous day? Well, that's because birds are migrating in the spring, and they're migrating at night. We're talking thousands of different species, and millions of different birds. So it's really interesting, and I want people to learn these stories of how these birds impact our environments.
WSHU: I can hear that, actually, as you said — waking up on a spring morning.
TK: Oh, it's very gratifying. It's very uplifting for all of us New Englanders. We just got through a very awesome, but cold and harsh winter. It's kind of drab, and then when you get outside, and you hear those birds, and you see the blossoms on the trees, it's just very — it gets me excited for summer.
WSHU: It's a sign of better things to come! And so the focus of this film is wildlife all along the Atlantic Flyway, right? So not necessarily just birds. Could you take us through some of those different areas of significance along that migration path?
TK: So for anyone that doesn't know, the Atlantic Flyway is this big migration path that spans all the way from South and Central America, goes up the east all the way into Canada, and then sometimes can arc west into Alaska, and goes up as far north as northern Manitoba along the Hudson Bay.
So this documentary started off focusing on birds, but it quickly transitioned into a film about environments and how birds impact our environments, and keep all these ecosystems together. The Atlantic Flyway is very interesting because you have birds that are coming from Costa Rica going all the way across the Atlantic, going all the way to Florida, the Everglades — they're feeding there, and they're going up to the east coast. They're hitting obstacles in what we call the northeastern gauntlet, which is New York City, Philadelphia and Boston — a lot of these suburban areas are very hard for birds to traverse through. You'll see that in the documentary. And then once they get through there, they're going up into the White Mountains, into the boreal forest, and then they go up into those really far reaches into the subarctic regions as we talked about Manitoba. It's a really fun project. I had a lot of fun producing it, and I'm very excited for people to see it.
WSHU: And Long Island Sound region, our listening area, is along the Atlantic Flyway. Why is this part of the country a popular spot for many of these birds to take a break as they come through?
TK: It depends on the species of bird. You have your wetland and marsh environments, right? That is a big food hub for a lot of species of birds. When you look at warblers, they're kind of traversing through a little bit of everything, and they're getting pushed and pulled by the wind. But when you look at birds in shoreline habitats — plovers, oystercatchers, black skimmers — all of those birds love these environments, these saltwater environments. And they're feeding on the shoreline itself, or a little bit offshore where they're feeding on fish and stuff like that. So it's a big hot spot where all this food's converging, so the birds are converging on it, too.
WSHU: And what birds can we expect to be arriving in our region here for the spring? I know you just mentioned shorebirds, and I think those are probably the most visible to folks as warmer weather draws people to the beach.
TK: That's a good question because it's not what species are migrating here; it's what species are not migrating, right? There are more species migrating, for the most part, in a lot of areas, and there are the species that won't migrate as readily. Owls, for the most part, do not migrate, depending on the species. But then when you look at other species like of birds of prey, different species of hawks like the broad-winged hawk — we saw broad-winged hawks all the way down in Costa Rica, and you're gonna be seeing them all the way up north, which is wild. It's kind of a surreal feeling being in Costa Rica, a very tropical environment, and seeing the exact same species of bird that is going to migrate up into the north. So I'm very excited about the birds of prey.
Also, you have piping plovers that are going to be coming in and nesting. You got American oystercatchers — so those are some of the shore birds that people love to see if you're walking on a shoreline environment, a lot of which are managed by the Connecticut Audubon Society. And I'm not a big Songbird fan. Like, I wouldn't consider myself a birder, but I've grown to really appreciate warblers. They come in all different shape, sizes and colors. They feed on a lot of different things in the trees. You have warblers that'll be orange, some that'll be very dark-colored, some that'll be bright yellow. And they migrate very quickly. So don't blink because they'll be gone in a second, and there will only be a couple of species that linger around Connecticut! I suggest to anyone who's interested in taking a look at which species are migrating — grab a field guide, go out to your local bookstore, grab a book, and take a read, and find some of these amazing birds because you might find one that interests you.
WSHU: How do you find animals to film? It's not as though you can have an open casting call for wildlife, right? Are you surveying these places beforehand?
TK: There's the very fun way, but the hard way and long way, and that's going out and tracking, being a detective. You're listening for calls, prints, scat — any little clues you can utilize for the species of animal you're trying to locate. The other way is to hire people to do that for you. Churchill Wild has amazing programs for people who maybe just want to see a polar bear, or want to get up close and personal with wolves. But they also offer trips to natural history photographers and videographers. National Geographic and BBC — all the big players hire these guys to take them out. We stayed up there for about a month filming things like polar bears, wolves, all these species of birds, and the surrounding environment. When you have dangerous animals — I love polar bears, but I wouldn't trust one — we're out with people who know how these animals behave, and know when we're in a good or bad situation. They're the real stars of the show when it comes to finding the wildlife. In other scenarios, you work with a guide who knows the area, and you're using your tracking skills to find the animal. That's where the trust thing comes in — everyone wants to view wildlife, but not everyone wants to view wildlife respectfully. When it comes to birds, wolves, and bears, I don't do baiting. I don't try to coax these animals to do anything for me. Everything you see on camera, the animals did on their own accord.
WSHU: Your work, obviously, captures the beauty of different kinds of wildlife, as well as the beauty of our own country. I think sometimes we can forget just how magnificent this place that we call home is when we get stuck in our little bubbles. Do you have any feelings about that? How can folks better take advantage of what our own country has to offer, and in your travels on the Atlantic Flyway — was there anything that surprised you?
TK: We traveled to areas by bush plane out to Costa Rica — deep into the tropics. And then we also traveled very far north — four plane rides to get to a very remote part of northern Manitoba. So it's really cool to come back home and see the things that make those very far-reaching places special. These are also the things that make our hometown special and our home environment special. There are so many things we overlook living here and growing up here. For example, Connecticut is a huge hub for birds coming in and out. Rhode Island, which has become one of my favorite states, has beautiful oceanic environments that are unlike any other place on our planet. Traveling to far places has made me greatly appreciate our home turf, and that's one of the things I like to share in the documentary. We have sections that really cater directly to New York City, to Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire — all of New England. It showcases how our environments can be just as wild and majestic as far-reaching environments such as northern Manitoba.
WSHU: How much has growing up in this part of the country influenced your interest in this kind of thing?
TK: You know, it's a double-edged sword because there's a lot of development around us, so there's not as much wilderness. You're not gonna go outside and find a wolf, but you are gonna go outside and find a very packed library full of amazing books. You are gonna go outside and find a ton of nonprofit and environmental-centered organizations who want to take your hand and show you the amazing parts of nature, like the Connecticut Audubon Society. You are gonna find amazing places to go and hike that not many people know about, or maybe a lot of people know about, but that doesn't make it any less special. So, growing up in Fairfield gave me a lot of opportunities for education, outreach, and educational programs, to get myself involved in the natural history community around here, and that to me is very special.
Visit SHUCommunityTheatre.org for more information on the film screening, Q & A with the production crew, and more. An accompanying photo gallery will be held across the street at Fairfield Public Library's Bruce S. Kershner Art Gallery.
