Blog Posts Archive - Page 40 of 138 - Golden Gate Bird Alliance

Birds Don’t Know About Social Distancing

By Britta Shoot

Cheep cheep cheep!

The sparrows and finches are here. I don’t know what time it is—I still haven’t opened my eyes, let alone turned off my white noise machine or opened the shades—but I know the regulars have arrived because they are chirping noisily right outside.

As I shuffle into the kitchen to make coffee, I squint out the window to see dainty House Finches, puffy Mourning Doves, and agile sparrows foraging peaceably together.

House Finch by Deb Shoning

I live in a downtown San Francisco apartment building, where these types of charming encounters are constant. There’s a little yard along the walkway up to the building, and in addition, I’m absurdly fortunate to have a small roof deck right outside my flat. It’s just big enough for a few chairs and a container garden of varied succulents and cacti, perennials including snapdragons and lilies, and woody geraniums I inherited from former neighbors.

No doubt due to the abundance of plant life and stately street trees in the immediate vicinity, most days, energetic robins and lively hummingbirds visit my porch on their rounds. Every afternoon, a few members of the local Red-masked Parakeet colony fly shrieking past—if they don’t land directly on my fire escape or roof, of course. Between so much bird activity and expansive views into numerous downtown office, apartment, and hotel buildings, I feel intensely connected to the city and its rhythms, even when I’m in my home, physically removed from it all.

Red-masked Parakeets by Andreas Haugstrup

In How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, Jenny Odell notes that when she visits Oakland’s Rose Garden, she isn’t “alone in nature,” even when she is the only person around.

“When the garden is empty of people,” she writes, “I still consider it a social place where I spend time with jays, ravens, Dark-eyed Juncos, hawks, turkeys, dragonflies, and butterflies, not to mention the oaks, the redwoods, the buckeyes, and the roses themselves.”

Because I live in a densely populated area, I never expect to be fully alone, even when tourists aren’t waving at me from a nearby hotel window or perching birds aren’t right outside the window next my desk. Without even moving from my office chair, I can watch hawk pairs catch updrafts over the Financial District. Some magic of acoustics and my specific location means I often hear them first, a signal to peer out my east-facing windows, or a midday excuse to rush onto the deck to look for them soaring over SoMa (and stretch a little before I sit back down).…

Dreaming of Birds While Sheltered-in-Place

By Paloma MacKenzie

Two Mondays ago, I showed up to work expecting the usual commotion that comes with tasks piling up over the weekend. But early in the afternoon, a colleague alerted me that six Bay Area counties were ordering denizens to shelter-in-place. I can’t say I was shocked. I’d already spent the last couple of weeks following the news closely on the developments of Covid-19 infection in the state. Later that afternoon, the CFO let everyone know that we were shutting down for the foreseeable future.

My husband and I were planning to go on vacation for the first time since we got married last year at the end of the week. Months back, I planned for us to go to Palm Springs to see the place where I grew up, where I hadn’t been in over 8 years. Since my husband started doing school remotely almost two weeks before, he had been adamant that we go despite the escalating situation.

Although I was looking forward to getting some designated “us” time, the shelter-in-place order gave me an out. My anxiety eased for a moment, but I wish I could have shown my husband my hometown. He was less concerned about traveling while coronavirus cases ballooned because we were going to be spending time outdoors anyway.

Paloma’s childhood memories of Flamingos. Photo courtesy of palmspringslife.com

At the top of our agenda was visiting the American Flamingo population at the Desert Springs Marriot—a fixture in the Coachella Valley with an opulent indoor tropical plant and bird selection and a manmade lagoon complete with Flamingos. My mom worked there as a waitress when I was little, so some of my most vivid childhood memories are of those Flamingos.

Flock of American Flamingos by Perl Photography

I also would have loved to have spotted some roadrunners.

A Roadrunner (far more elegant than Loony Tunes). Photo by Jim Powers

My first impression of the species was through Wile E Coyote on Looney Tunes. I soon realized they didn’t have such long necks and were somewhat stocky (in comparison, mostly), yet sleek, like little dinosaurs with frilled crowns. And I’ll never forget when I found a hummingbird nest in my backyard and reveled at the miniature eggs.

Instead, life resumes indoors. Being glued to social media more than usual this last week, I noticed that many people I know are including outdoor activity as part of their self-isolation agenda.…

Lessons From A Tree

By Carree M.

Nature is always presenting us with opportunities to learn if we take a moment to fully absorb these gifts. While the Bay Area and many communities are under shelter in place directives, it may seem that we have been completely cut off from nature. That being said, as an avid nature lover and photographer, making a concerted effort to remain indoors is taking a lot of adjustment.

I live in a building with limited outdoor space, save a small patch of grass and one magnificent tree which someone with a whole lot more knowledge helped me identify as a Brush Cherry (Syzygium paniculatum). What is so magnificent about this tree? It attracts multiple species of birds and produces beautiful red berries. It is through this tree that I’ve honed my knowledge of visual and audio bird identification. I appreciate the education even when the birds come calling early in the morning before I had planned to wake up.

Bushtit

Bird Journaling

A few months back, I started a bird journal to take notes on the birds that visit the tree and their behavior. Coincidentally, the pattern on the journal cover resembles tree rings in an abstract way, so that worked out nicely. I also use this journal to record sightings of birds, mammals, etc. when out on trails and walking around my neighborhood. I find this to be a therapeutic tactile experience in this digital world. I now have a record of resident birds and those that stop in for a rest on their seasonal migration. I’ve gotten to “know” the Anna’s Hummingbird who has taken ownership of the window feeder and the House Finch that enjoys stopping by to test out his songs.

Anna’s Hummingbird

Due to the relatively small sample size of the birds who stop in I’ve gotten good at identifying calls and songs to the point of not needing to look outside to see who is out there. I still look though because I can’t say no to that. I know when the Bushtits and Ruby-crowned Kinglet are out there being their spazzy insect-hunting selves. I know when the Cedar Waxwings make their seasonal appearance via flash mobbing the tree as their soft seesaw noise is distinct as well as hearing the telltale “plopping” sounds of dropped berries hitting the ground. Other visitors include: Townsend’s Warblers, Dark-eyed Juncos, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Robins, California Towhees, Scrub Jays, Black Phoebes, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Mourning Doves, one hawk that I failed to identify that was on the roof of the building next door (major fail on my part and still kicking myself for not looking in time).…

Birding While Sheltered in Place: Reflections

By Kathleen Murphy

My dad was a bird watcher. He could name species without a guide. When he passed, I saw my first blue bird and, of course, like every grieving human would do, I called out, “Dad!” I loved to look at the pictures in his guidebooks, but never had the patience to sit and wait for birds like he did.

Fast forward two years after my dad’s passing: this was the start of my family’s backyard clean up project. We decided that creating as much biodiversity as we could in our backyard was our goal. We were inspired by the film, “The Biggest Little Farm.” We consulted local arborists and landscapers and planted our first round of bird, bee, and butterfly attracting plants.

Western Bluebird by Becky Matsubara

Now, I hear the birds.

More and more I’ve been sitting outside on the weekends and watching their behaviors.

Why don’t they wash in our bird bath? American Robins blend into the plum blossoms. I still don’t know the name of the small, black-headed bird that is the size of a Sparrow. I say tentatively aloud, “Chickadee” but I’m not sure. My dad would know.

American Robin by Mark Heatherington

About two months ago, I watched a hummingbird sitting so still on the very top of a bare branch. The hummingbird disappeared but I was still able to hear her. After nearly half an hour, I heard her singing as she left the branch; then she’d returned. She was circling and circling in the same pattern. As I watched her, I noted for the first time the behavior of this bird. She eventually flew away but left me with an understanding of what I had been missing up until that moment.

Anna’s Hummingbird by Edmund Wu

Last month, I saw a pair of birds that looked like the common Mourning Doves. As I observed, I realized these birds seemed very different. I swear, this bird had a long beak! I got up close to the window to watch. This particular bird had striped marks on her back and a body that was slightly bigger than a normal Mourning Dove.

This bird was something different and new; maybe a lost shorebird, though we’re miles from the Bay.

I work at a local school with a living lab managed by naturalists and scientists whom I admire. I asked our bird expert about what species this odd mix of dove and shorebird could be.…

Add Birding To Your Social Distancing Routine

By Alex Smolyanskaya

The coronavirus situation is developing rapidly, with frequent changes to government guidelines. Check local sources for updates before leaving your home.

Folks all over the Bay Area woke up last Tuesday under orders to shelter in place, with exceptions for essential trips. Fortunately, San Francisco guidelines state that outdoor activities on foot, bike, and even in a car are acceptable, even essential, for those at lower risk for complications, provided we practice social distancing.

If you’re new to spending frequent idle time outdoors, you may be wondering, what do I do out there? Sure, walking is nice, but some of us need #goals.

Enter birdwatching. No organized groups, gear, or travel required.

Nerdy hobby no more, birding (birds, verbed) is a way to connect to our environment and disengage from the anxiety-heightening stream of alerts, pings, and texts. Many find it meditative, with time spent outdoors having measurable benefits to those feeling isolated and lonely. At least one very biased source asserts that it’s the perfect activity for this time of social distancing.

As a paranoid pregnant person who has been social-distancing at home for over three weeks, I have found very needed respite in birding while roaming my neighborhood and local parks.

Brown Creeper in Glen Canyon Park in San Francisco

In my time organizing and leading walks for Golden Gate Bird Alliance and the San Francisco Feminist Bird Club, I’ve learned that most people do not identify with pop culture portrayals of competitive goofy mostly-dudes trying to hectically one up each other on how many bird species they can spot in an arbitrary amount of time.

Instead, most of us actually enjoy slowing down to observe common birds doing their thing — it’s the start of breeding season in the Bay Area, and that means birds at their most sexy… don’t you want to know? We enjoy seeing birds gather at yard feeders, the pleasure identifying any bird by sight or sound, or giving a nod to the daily pigeons and blackbirds who share our urban routines.

A pigeon (aka Rock Dove) with a stick… what will it be for?

It’s your rules — you don’t have to identify any of the birds you find, you can give them whatever names you want, you don’t have to care about how many birds you saw, you don’t have to post your wins on social media, and you usually don’t need to go far from home.…