The Big Yard: Birdwatching in a Time of Quarantine

Or: The Evolution of a Pajama Lister

Day 616 of the Pandemic (November 24, 2021)

            The day before Thanksgiving, the wife and I take ourselves to the local Safeway pharmacy, bare our arms, and take a booster shot, Moderna half-dose.  In the news, a new Covid variant is on the rise.  Delta and now Omicron.  Confirmed cases in the UK, Germany, and Italy.  The US announces travel restrictions and on Friday the stock market tanks by over 900 points.

            The unvaccinated will end us all.

A Townsend’s Warbler checks me out over his hoard of elderberries.

Some birds seem to be under travel restrictions as well, at least those traveling to Mexico and Central America.  Hammond’s Flycatchers, Townsend’s Warblers, and a male Hepatic Tanager continue mixing with arriving winter birds.  All of the dark-eyed juncos glare from behind their black masks: Who are these interlopers? White-crowned and chipping sparrows hold to the bare branches, while the Lincoln’s sparrows hug the shadows and slink to the dark water.  Winter is for sparrows not tanagers.

A classic winter bird for the Big Yard, the Dark-eyed Junco.

A White-crowned Sparrow recently arrived from the tundra and alpine meadows of northern Canada and Alaska.

Another winter sparrow from points north (northern Arizona to Alaska), the Chipping Sparrow.

The Lincoln’s Sparrow, another winter migrant from breeding grounds in Canada and Alaska.

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