Other Featured Essays about life on the Ranch, home schooling, nature, horses, and discovery in general.
Birds are a part of nature that easily permeates our urban lives. They cross fences and freeways without hesitation, inhabiting our backyard trees and local parks. I have always been aware of birds in much the same way that I hear a distant neighbor's dog barking, or the laughing play of kids outside. Their energetic and melodious noise adds color that I hear rather than see. Sometimes, during quiet reflective moments, I have listened to the chirping and trilling of nearby birds, and felt a spiritual thankfulness for their gift. More often, they enrich my world from a nearly invisible perch in the background of my busy life.
Last week that all changed. Daniel and I attended a birdwatching tour around two local lakes lead by two docents from the local Audobon Society. Visitors had come from hometowns throughout North America to capture views of rare birds. It was the docents' job to know the most likely places to find these birds, and to recognize them among the scores of other birds inhabiting the lakes and surrounding yards. The visiting birdwatchers only had several days to view the rare birds, and San Diego County is too large an area to cover in such a short time, without expert help from such docents. The docents had come to these areas a number of times during the previous weeks, to identify birds in and around the lakes, and to familiarize themselves with the birds' locations. Their efforts added great value to the festival.
Spotting the birds requires at least 2 skills: the ability to recognize those markings and behaviors that can be used to identify individual species of birds, and knowing where to look. Our docents, savvy local birdwatchers, spent quality time acquiring the skill to identify birds by their flight patterns, eating habits and body patterns. Then they put in legwork. They headed out into the fields and estuaries armed with binoculars or a telescope again and again, learning which birds inhabit the various niches of our county, and the seasons in which they can be seen.
As I walked with this group of avid birdwatchers, I found myself peering into nearby branches, and wondering to myself, "What type of bird am I looking at? Is it rare? Does it live here permanently, or is it just passing through?". As I looked at the birds with new focus, I discovered to my delight, that birds I had previously thought to be drab colored actually exhibited beautiful spots of yellow or red, or patterns of dark and light feathering. And lo, those unique patterns of color could be used to identify the birds as unique species! They became familiar to me.
Now that I am home at the ranch again, I find myself looking at all manner of birds, and asking myself those same questions. I have a new desire to become familiar with the various birds that I see as I ride around the ranch, and to know more of their lives and their niches. Daniel has been identifying birds around the ranch since last summer. If I add my eyes to his quest, then together we can develop an understanding of the bird populations that are here from month to month throughout the year. It is a compliment to those hard-working docents who donated their time so that participants at the annual San Diego Audobon Society festival could achieve their trip, or even lifetime goals of seeing a rare vermillion flycatcher or blue-footed booby in its native habitat.
Imagine if we had even more eyes on our local bird populations? We could have a comprehensive understanding of the comings and goings of all of our local bird populations, and how their cycles fit into the web of our local habitats.
