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Month: May 2020

My Birding Day: SIP Redwood RP

My Birding Day: SIP Redwood RP

One of my favorite local parks is Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park. I find it peaceful walking amongst the shadows of the tall trees along the stream. It’s hard to keep the day’s stressors in my head when I have nature’s comfort all around. That’s why I was so devastated when the park was closed due to the pandemic.

The moment that the Bay Area announced that the shelter-in-place would begin at midnight, we rushed to Redwood to get in a quick park visit. (Side note, we also went to See’s Candies. Apparently, I was more afraid of missing out on chocolate more than any other food item.) The Redwood trees gave me their unconditional care as I worked through the panic of the impending SIP. As we left, a sign was installed at the parking lot announcing its temporary closure.

Two months later, the parking lots were reopened. I was relieved to find the park the same, minus one closed parking lot and only one set of restrooms available. The trees welcomed me back into their familiar realm.

We hiked for over two hours, listening to the birds, taking in the smells, feeling the constant dance of the warm sun and cool wind on my skin.

I was delighted to watch a family of Pacific Wrens. Two adults and four cheeping fledglings trailing their parents in a quest for food. During our trip, we recorded a total of 11 wrens, most of them singing their dizzying yet delightful songs.

I’m so thankful that I can now return to my favorite park!

Morning Routine

Morning Routine

Anna's Hummingbird

Anna’s Hummingbird, one of many birds I hear in the mornings

Groggy and disoriented, I pulled myself out of bed. What day is it? Do I work today? Did I oversleep? Quarantine-brain is in full force, causing the days to blend together. Bleary-eyed, I wandered into the kitchen to grab my breakfast and watch the birds. I heard a squabble at the bird feeder just outside the window. The feeder was nearly out of the much-desired sunflower seeds causing fierce territory wars. I threw open the window, which would normally scatter all the birds, but one brave Lesser Goldfinch remained behind. She watched me grab the feeder and patiently waited for the refill.

Once the feeder was back in place, the delicate female goldfinch plopped herself onto the plate and hogged down for a solid six minutes with no interruptions from other birds. I watched as she grabbed a seed and meticulously chewed it down, all while darting her gaze looking out for danger. Her bill was plastered with chunks of seeds – I wanted to offer her a napkin. Grabbing a bit of my bagel, I moved just enough to spook her, thus ending the buffet.

The rest of the morning was spent listening to the leftovers of the morning chorus. I watched a pair of crows tend to their nest. A pair of Dark-eyed Juncos picked through dropped seeds in the gutter below. Pigeons were flapping against a brilliant blue sky. Shelter-in-place has been challenging for us humans. But sitting at the window watching the birds helps to let go of worries for just a little while.