If you walk along the bluff on Sellwood Blvd you are likely to see one of the neighborhood icons: a young man peering through a birding scope. Ezra Cohen is a fifteen year old student at the Portland Waldorf School and a passionate birder. For the last couple years he’s been leading bird walks in Oaks Bottom, and I’ve gone on a few and learned a lot from him.
On this episode of Locus Focus, we listen to a conversation I recorded with Ezra as we stood on the viewing platform in Oaks Bottom in late October and talked about the importance of being connected with nature, especially in this season of pandemic and social and political chaos. And while we were talking who should walk by but Portland's renowned urban naturalist Mike Houck, who had heard about Ezra and was excited to meet him and joined our conversation.
To find out more about Ezra's birdwalks in Oaks Bottom or to get involved in helping him restart Friends of Oaks Bottom you can contact Ezra at ezralevweinercohen@gmail.com.
- KBOO