For the birds: This local young photographer is soaring

What makes a successful bird photography outing? For 13-year-old Sam Phaneuf it means early mornings, long hours, a watchful eye and alert ears.

Phaneuf is a Grade 8 student at F.H. Clergue Public School who has been involved in bird photography since he was five years old. Aside from the hobby itself, which he refers to as birding, Phaneuf gives back to the community through conservation efforts and he enjoys sharing his passion with audiences young and old.

“Birding can take any form, from looking at birds at your bird feeder and having a bird book beside you to identify them or what I do, where I go internationally to try and find birds," said Phaneuf.

Photos of Phaneuf's finds can be seen on his Instagram page.

He got into bird watching at such a young age by following in the footsteps of his grandparents Vivian and Don Hall. To date, Phaneuf has identified 366 bird species in his travels, with a goal of hitting at least 415 by the end of 2024.

While older generations of bird watchers would rely on printed field guides to identify different species, Phaneuf is leaning more on the modern technology that is available, including web sites like eBird.org and phone apps like Merlin Bird ID.

He and other birders will share rare birds on these platforms. In many cases, those birds are just passing through the area and there is only a short window to observe them.

“As soon as a rare bird is sighted I get an alert on my phone, that way I can get out and find it quicker or have a better chance of finding it,” said Phaneuf.

He has also trained his ear to recognize dozens of bird calls, which comes in handy because many birds in the wild can be heard before they are seen.

The young birdwatcher canvases friends and family to donate toward his all-day bird-a-thons, where he spends the better part of the day scanning the skies and shores for photo opportunities.

"On a day I am dedicated to going out I will get up at 5:30, have a granola bar and head out by 6 o'clock and bird until 3," said Phaneuf. “When I am really dedicated to looking for something, when I find it I spend the rest of my day just photographing it."

Phaneuf has taken the money from those bird-a-thons and funded classroom literature for his school and another elementary school in the city to help other kids become interested in the hobby.

He has also donated to various conservation efforts and, in an environmental club formed with friends and his sister Emma, getting his hands dirty to make it better for wildlife by pulling invasive species like garlic mustard or picking up litter.

“I don’t know why, but when people flick a cigarette butt they don’t consider that littering, but if they threw a Styrofoam cup they would know that is littering," said Phaneuf. "In some areas we pick up like 100 cigarette butts in a meter-square area and that isn’t good. Birds don’t know what’s going to happen if they eat them."

He also takes every opportunity he can to speak about bird watching, from classroom presentations to a recent speech at a Rotary Club lunch in Sault Ste. Marie.

“I love presenting to different crowds. I presented for the Ontario Field Ornithologists — it’s an Ontario-wide bird watching program — I love doing bird presentations because it’s what I do best,” he said.

Although he has bird watched in seven countries, some of Phaneuf's favourite bird watching sites are much closer to home. He enjoys shooting along the shore at Echo Bay and many of the bird species that have been sighted in Algoma can be found at Whitefish Island. 

“You don’t need to go far, there are birds all around us,” he said.

The rarest bird he has found in the area was a tri-colored heron, one of only a few recorded sightings in the area on eBird.org.

A lot of the equipment Phaneuf uses to photograph birds has come in the form of gifts and from saving his money, but he said you don't need a lot of money to get started in the hobby.

“If you want to get into bird watching, go out to your local park with someone you know who bird watches and ask them to show you around and give you an idea of how bird watching works," he said. "Be patient and don’t get discouraged. That happens to me very easily sometimes when I’m bird watching and there aren’t many [birds] out."