Well, the world has changed. My money wouldn’t have been on “global pandemic,” but it’s not totally surprising at this point.

Anyhow, now, like so many people in the country and around the world, we’re (loosely) confined to our homes, hoping to stave off mass infection. It’s pretty fitting, since staying home is something Americans have been working on for years, and now we need to do it to save ourselves (of course, Americans also love irony and not doing what the government asks them to do, but that’s a topic for another post).

So, my partner and I are working from home as best as we can; her office is downstairs, and mine is upstairs, so we have our privacy. It’s going pretty well so far, honestly. My commute has been cut down from a 10/15-minute drive to a 20-second walk if I hit the bathroom first. That’s an improvement in the range of 95-97%…can’t beat that at all.

From my office, I can look down into our side and backyards, where I have my bird feeders, which–I’m very surprised to say–have become a constant source of entertainment for me. It’s been a comfort to watch the birds come and go at different times of day, and I find that even when there are none to be seen, I’ll stop at the window while walking by and wait a few seconds before moving on.

It’s nice to watch creatures so undisturbed by the events of the world. I was afraid they’d never come; I put my first feeder out in January, a metal, red, 8-port feeder and got nothing. Birds were definitely around town, even though it was constantly snowy and cold, but none were visiting me. Then, on a trip to Lowe’s, I picked up a small feeder, clear and plastic, that was on sale for $2. I thought, maybe if I put a second feeder in the yard, perhaps that would get the birds to come. Also nope.

Then, before the world spiraled out of control, I picked up a suet feeder and received as a gift one that looks like a picnic table (I love it). I don’t have any evidence that these are what finally brought the birds to the yard, but now they’re here! That’s what I’ve been waiting for, and it makes me so happy.

Now, I’m at that point in the self-quarantine where I’m recognizing when certain birds get there. The grackles, at least three of them, come by in the morning, and they’re usually followed by the European starlings. (Both have such amazing markings that I can’t believe I’ve never noticed them before.) Throughout the morning, those guys fight with a black-capped chickadee or two and some sparrows of indeterminate type–are they chipping sparrows? American tree sparrows? song sparrows? I still can’t tell–and then disappear around lunch. Breakfast is usually very busy.

Then, in the afternoons and evenings, the grackles come back for dinner, usually accompanied by a single mourning dove, who I first got acquainted with when it sat on the picnic table feeder for at least ten minutes, just hanging out. The sparrows flit in and out around them, though in smaller numbers than in the mornings.

And once or twice so far, there have been guest stars. There’s been a downy woodpecker making appearances every now and then, and I saw a blue jay checking things out from a distance once. This morning, much to my excitement, we had a cardinal. And if I’m not mistaken, I think I’ve seen a dark-eyed junco as well, but I need to continue to consult my bird app (I’m the guy with the bird app–well, apps–now).

 

It’s gotten to the point where I’ve created an Instagram account (Social Distance State Park) to show my birds to friends in the city who might not be able to leave their homes for a while. I’ll do anything to help.

With any luck, that’s about as wild as things will get around here. We’re still looking at potentially a few more weeks of limiting our movements, so who knows what things we’ll get up to. All I know is that if I start naming the birds, then I’m in trouble.