Birding for all: Leica x FBC UK
- Elle Kaye
- Aug 8
- 2 min read
Written for Leica Nature.
Birding has always been about perspective - about learning to slow down, look closer, and connect with the outdoors. At Feminist Bird Club, our mission is rooted in creating safe, joyful, and inclusive spaces for everyone to experience the wonder of nature. That’s why we’re thrilled to announce our new partnership with Leica Optics - a brand renowned for its precision, clarity, and commitment to seeing the world differently.
Together, we’re launching a collaboration that’s about more than binoculars. It’s about expanding access, deepening experiences, and reinforcing the fact that everyone deserves equal access to the outdoors.
Feminist Bird Club England is co-hosted by Elle Kaye and Elie Gordon and is an offshoot of Feminist Bird Club, founded in NYC in 2016. The goal of the organisation is two-fold: make birding and the outdoors inclusive and affirming to people who may not have safe access to it; and leverage people's passion for environment and social justice to help create lasting social change. The organisation has chapters across North America and Europe, with several sibling clubs in South America.
Elle Kaye is an impassioned conservationist, educator, nature guide and bird taxidermist. She sees all of her endeavours as her ‘love letters’ to the natural world and centres herself in the work she does connecting people to the outdoors. Through her wildlife communication, she hopes to open the dialogue about the ways we can protect our planet, giving focus to the so-called ‘stewards of conservation’ on her podcast Specimens. Elle specialises in birds in her practice as a taxidermist, believing that taxidermy has a relevant and crucial utility in preservation sciences and classification - and as potentially the last real, tangible record of birds. For Elle, birding is the perfect harmony to her other work: understanding live birds, their behaviour, habitat, migration and their plumage changes helps inform her work not only as a nature guide, but as a taxidermist.
Elie Gordon is a passionate nature enthusiast, environmental and human rights advocate, and mother. She brings her lifelong love of the natural world and a new-found perspective to her work as social media director at Atmos - a publication and media organisation telling stories at the intersection of climate and culture. Elie’s own values align with Atmos’ mission to re-enchant people with our shared humanity, touching on themes of Indigenous rights, land reclamation, social and climate justice, and queer identity. She discovered a love for birds through a stint on BBC Springwatch, started bird watching during lockdown, and never looked back - rarely without a pair of binoculars in her bag.
With Leica’s support, we can continue local walks, as well as bring educational programming, expert guests, and initiatives that lower barriers to entry in birding - particularly for women, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ communities. Our next scheduled walk will take place over summertime around London on the 23rd August.
Stay tuned for more information on upcoming FBC walks and events in collaboration with Leica. We believe that every bird is worth seeing, and every birder deserves to feel seen.
See you soon,Elle + Elie, The FBC England Team.
Comments