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Tag: European starlings

Quick! To the Birds!

Quick! To the Birds!

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American Robin

American Robin

Pull query “UCCS_R_ACST_BY_CPP”.

Numbers. Data. Spreadsheets flying across my dual monitor set-up. I’m working from home – the only chunk of quiet, uninterrupted time to do number crunching.

I hear distant sounds, but I’m too engrossed in my formulas.

Input “=VLOOKUP(A2,COP!A:A,1,”false”)

The sounds get louder. American Robins, lots of them. My attention is starting to splinter, but I’m still holding strong to my spreadsheets.

Input “=COUNTIFS(…”

Whistling. Whining. Squeaking, like car brakes or a dog whimpering. I know that call. My brain suddenly flips into bird mode. I rush to the window. Dozens of Cedar Waxwings are in the trees across the parking lot, flying to and from a Toyon Bush. I need my camera. I hope I can rush out there before they leave!

I grab my camera, keys, phone, jacket. Calmly but quickly rush around the block. I see dozens of birds fly across the sky. I arrive to find Cedar Waxwings staring down at me from treetops. I intentionally avoid positioning myself directly under the tree to dodge the splats of waxwing droppings raining on the bushes.

Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing Curiously Looking At Me

American Robins are busy munching berries. I stand there mesmerized by the chaos of sounds all around me. European Starlings, Cedar Waxwings, American Robins all calling simultaneously for a dizzying but pleasant whirlwind of sounds.

I smile and am grateful to spend a ten-minute afternoon break watching the birds. With a smile on my face, I walk back home and back to work.

California Wildfires

California Wildfires

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I step outside to an unfamiliar grey-orange cloud draping itself across the horizon. My brain tries to make sense of the air and pretends that it’s the iconic San Francisco fog rolling in from the bay. My watery eyes and burning lungs argue that the heavy fog is actually smoke.

Smokey Gomes Park, 2018

Gomes Park in the Smoke, 2018

The Bay Area has been covered in smoke for a week and Friday was so far the worst day with an AQI of 246 in Oakland (0-50 is good air, 300+ is hazardous). The deadly Camp Fire continues its wrath, destroying everything in its path. Simultaneously, LA is battling fires. California feels like it’s in the midst of an apocalypse, and sadly the destruction is dismantling lives.

Birding typically offers me an escape from life’s worries. Each day this past week, I slip on my N95 disposable mask, breathe in its plastic-smell that I hope is properly filtering the smoke, and squint my burning eyes in search of birds. Some days it seems like the bird activity is minimal. I wonder if this is due to the fires.

Western Gull, Moss Landing 2018

Western Gull Against Smoky Sky, Moss Landing, 2018

One thing I’ve noticed is how eerily quiet it is, like stepping into an acoustically-treated room. When I hear a bird chirp, its voice is magnified against the deadened air.

I was delighted to see a hundred European starlings whistling in a whirlwind of mimicry upon a telephone wire. A Bewick’s wren pops out of a bush expressing its feelings with a crabby call that sounds like glass marbles scraping together. A distant call in the distance alerts me to a peregrine falcon flyover, and I catch sight of it just in time to watch it glide through the orange haze.