Like countless other folks during the pandemic, I’ve been sticking close to home, forgoing many of the numerous outings and field trips that I normally take each year to enjoy birds, wildflowers, butterflies and other wild things.
But there’s a silver lining: In spending more time at the house, I’ve discovered a new birding hotspot, my own yard. While the pandemic rages, I’ve been paying more attention than usual to the comings and goings of birds at my feeders and around my yard in Decatur.
It has been a wonderful source of cheer and entertainment for my wife and me during the pandemic. We can attest to what mental health experts have found: Spending time with birds, even through a window, makes one feel happier and more relaxed.
We’ve also come to appreciate the surprisingly wide avian diversity in our yard. During the past week alone, we’ve had a sizable flock of robins on the lawn, a small flock of cedar waxwings on the berry-laden holly bush, a flock of redwing blackbirds in a tall white oak and American crows cawing from a pine tree.
Carolina chickadees, tufted titmice, Eastern towhees, dark-eyed juncos, white-throated sparrows, house finches, pine siskins, Carolina wrens, chipping sparrows, Eastern phoebes, brown-headed nuthatches, white-breasted nuthatches, goldfinches and yellow-rumped warblers flitted around the yard. A mockingbird and a brown thrasher vied for spots at the suet feeder. With their neon-like colors, cardinals, blue jays, pine warblers and bluebirds brightened up the yard.
From my home office window, I spied pileated, downy and red-bellied woodpeckers in a big tulip poplar. Another woodpecker, a yellow-bellied sapsucker, tapped on a nearby tree. From our kitchen window, we watched a pair of red-shouldered hawks land on a pine limb.
Coming up next weekend (Feb. 12-15) is a big incentive for everybody to observe their local birds — the 24th annual Great Backyard Bird Count. During that time, you can help scientists by taking at least 15 minutes to count the birds in your yard or neighborhood. Learn how to participate at birdcount.org.
IN THE SKY: From David Dundee, Tellus Science Museum astronomer: The moon will be new on Thursday. Mars is in the southwest at dusk and sets in the west a few hours later. The other planets are too close to the sun for easy observation.
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