It all begins with the beauty in your backyard.
Victoria-based, multi-talented storyteller Ryan Wilkes has announced the release of his newest documentary, The Bird in My Backyard—which he directed, produced and edited.
This stunning documentary was filmed in Victoria and follows citizen scientist, Eric Pittman, as he documents the journeys of two female Anna’s hummingbirds as they raise their young in his urban garden.
It’s a story that embraces our desire to explore and observe, and encourages us all to take the time to stop and soak in our surroundings.
Since its completion, it has been featured in several international film festivals and has earned widespread recognition. This includes winning in its category at both the Jackson Wild Media awards and the Banff Mountain Film Festival.
Victoria Buzz had the honour of speaking with Wilkes about his background, the project and how it came to be, as well as The Bird in My Backyard’s upcoming release on YouTube.
For Wilkes, his hummingbird journey began during the pandemic while he was living in Calgary. He needed something to get him out of the house, and so he took to birding to keep himself occupied and give him a fresh perspective of the city.
He said that someone mentioned hummingbirds and how they can, despite the bustling city life, be found in Calgary for a few months of the year.
“The hunt began…and after a few weeks I found them. It was just amazing to see these little helicopters of the bird world flying around the river valley in Calgary…I fell in love with them.”
He moved to Victoria in January of 2022, and to Wilkes’ surprise, his arrival was accompanied by a snowstorm.
Despite the poor weather, he ended up spotting some hummingbirds while out and about that week. This deepened his growing fascination with these little, impressive creatures, and he continued to film and photograph them regularly.
“A coworker of mine knew that I was super into hummingbirds, and she said ‘My neighbour is also really into [them], you should meet and chat,’” he said.
Wilkes admitted to putting it off for a while, unsure about spare time and other priorities, but eventually he decided an intro was in order.
“Within a few days of texting him I was in his backyard filming a mother hummingbird feeding her chicks. That was how I met Eric,” Wilkes said.
“He’s a window salesman by day and in his spare time he follows hummingbirds.”
Wilkes gushed that Pittman’s been doing this for 15 years and has become quite the expert at finding nests—usually locating between five and 10 per year.
He added that in Pittman’s dedication, his actions as a citizen scientist have actually led him to being the first to document several behaviours of Anna’s hummingbirds that were previously unknown to biologists.
Together, they filmed from January until May of this year, closely documenting five nests. However, only two will be featured in the film and will give audiences a well-rounded glimpse at the elegance and fragility of Anna’s hummingbirds.
“Eric has found that the success of the nest is only about 50%…so, we knew we’d have to find as many nests as we could and keep an eye on all of them to mold the story.”
When asked about the film festivals, Wilkes said that they were both quite surprised by the immediate praise.
The two festivals he wanted to get into the most were those mentioned above: Jackson Wild Media awards and the Banff Mountain Film Festival.
“Not only did we get into both of those festivals, but we won both of those festivals, which is a total dream come true.”
He laughed and added that this experience will be difficult to top.
Wilkes is beyond thrilled to present this film to the world, and not just because it will enthral viewers, but because it gives Pittman well-deserved validation for his work.
He believes The Bird in My Backyard is its own way of honouring him for all of his passion and intention behind his time—which he has given readily and with vigour out of love for the birds, nothing else.
“He’s really happy with the end product…now when people ask him what he does, he has this great little film to showcase his work,” Wilkes said.
The film is just 20 minutes long, and it will be released to YouTube on Thursday, December 26th, making it globally accessible to all that wish to dive into the world of Anna’s hummingbirds.
CBC Gem also picked up the documentary and is streaming it on their service now.
Those who wish to view the trailer and learn more about the team behind the story can do so here.
When Wilkes was asked what he plans on doing next, he said that nothing is set in stone, but he’s got four or five ideas in development.
As the majority of his work is as a cinematographer for other directors, this was his chance to stretch his creative legs and push himself.
He added that this project was nothing short of fulfilling. Not only is it cinematically stunning, it also has a wonderful message behind it too.
“Being able to show the impact that someone can have just from keeping an eye on their backyard is really cool to me,” he said.
“One of the main messages is that you don’t have to go very far to experience something magical in nature and to make new discoveries…we can all do this and find something that moves us.”
Wilkes is happy to say that he and Pittman will remain friends, and being geographically close makes it all the simpler.
“It was the perfect partnership.”
Sporting a diverse background, Wilkes has used his passion for science, conservation and wildlife as key motivators in his work as a documentary director, cinematographer and photographer.
It was his two-year stint in oil and gas that pushed him to seek higher education in New Zealand, where he lived for nearly five years, and achieved a PhD in Bioengineering.
He began his creative journey in photography and videography as a creative escape from his studies. He proceeded to fall in love with the process and hasn’t looked back.
