see film here
once i counted birds (2009)
Rising sea levels, birds and forests on the other side of the world - all our actions are connected.
This new film incorporates old footage taken by Cathy on a biodiversity research trip to Suwarrow; a remote, un-peopled atoll in the Cook Islands, South Pacific, in 2000.
Suwarrow is an important breeding place for seabirds of all types including the rare and very large Masked Booby; her and fellow scientist Rhys Jones collected data was later published in the New Zealand Forest and Bird Jounal (2001) and the project was a jointly sponsored UN and Cook Island project.
While the trip may look idyllic, Cathy almost drowned when the yacht she and her colleague hitched a lift with was hit by a freak wave. Her new digital camcorder was destroyed but her old Hi8 survived to take this footage. The still images are slides.
Many years later, Cathy is now actively involved in promoting ecological, permanent forestry in her small woodlands in Ireland; she blogs and creates works about converting her 20 year old spruce plantation to a permanent forest using Pro Silva, close to nature, forestry methods. She believes that small local ecologically based actions can have a positive effect globally and personally.
**Thanks to composer Dan Berridge/Broadway Project for the use of his music in this film.
Blog post about this film:
Suwarrow 'atoll is a living island'- behind the scenes of 'once i counted birds' film |
