Photo credit: Ryan Somma (Flickr)

“Over increasingly large areas of the United States, spring now comes unheralded by the return of the birds, and the early mornings are strangely silent where once they were filled with the beauty of bird song.”
- Rachel Carson, Silent Spring.

Profound words from Rachel Carson, author and biologist, who began to notice a declining bird population back in 1962 when no one else took note. Then, it was pesticides and DDT that were wiping out mass populations of birds.

Photo credit: rbglasson (Flickr)

Would you believe that the ultra-light aircraft could be as versatile as Bill Lishman himself? Ultra-light flight hasn't been around for too long, but it's an incredibly promising technology if you believe in what it can do.

Ultra-light aircrafts are 1 or 2 person airplanes that are both affordable and eco-friendly. They started popping up in the 1970's and 1980's, and as you can imagine, Bill's first encounter with ultra-light was quite unique.

Besides being the inspiration for Fly Away Home, you can add another credit to Bill Lishman’s list of accomplishments.

Wait until you see what his innovative mind created in his own home, unlike any home we’ve ever seen before. We got to take a sneak peek into the unique house Bill has built underground, the result of years of comprehensive research and design.

Photo credit: W. Lishman

The man, the bird-lover, the innovator; Bill Lishman has got a full deck of cards. Whether creating public art, pioneering ultra-light flight in Canada, or serving as the first human to lead birds in formation, it seems that this GreenHero is always on the go with an exciting new project.

Bill thoughtfully answered a few questions posed by our GreenHeroes team from his home on the hill in Blackstock, Ontario, reinforcing the idea that it's never too late to let your ideas take flight.

Photo credit: jpcurio (Flickr)

Bill Lishman's passion for flying high with the birds took on a new meaning in the 1970's, when the city of Pickering put in a bid to build an airport in his backyard. Residents in the area, including Bill, fought to keep the airport off their lands.

Peter Shatalow's documentary, Last Stand, captures the community's fight and unique methods of drawing attention to their cause and preserving the land. We were inspired by this story because of its close-to-home feel, sharing a similar battle against an airport that we faced in our own backyard.

Tune in Tuesday November 9 at 7 p.m. (EST) for the second episode of GreenHeroes on TVO.

Last week, we proudly launched our companion TV show to rave reviews. It was exciting to see our GreenHeroes on the big screen, flaunting their unique and risk-taking attributes and highlighting their amazing global actions.

William (Bill) Lishman is best known for his part in the film Fly Away Home. You’d be hard pressed to find him on screen though; instead, the film is about him, and his incredibly innovative solution to the problems faced by birds forgetting migration routes.

Lishman devoted years to developing a method of training the birds to follow his ultra-light glider, in spite of naysayers who thought the project would not take flight. It was one of the first examples of Lishman’s innovative spirit, a characteristic that has continued to push him to push the boundaries and develop exciting and forward-thinking projects.