The Big Yard: Birdwatching in a Time of Quarantine

Or: The Evolution of a Pajama Lister

Christmas almond roll, a family tradition going back generations.

Day 282 of the Quarantine (December 21, 2020)

            Winter solstice.  The Earth leans farthest into darkness and pauses for the shortest day of the year to pass.  A day for baking almond roll and sitting by the fire, indulging in hot cider and books.  Birdwatching too.  At home.  No venturing out.  The wife and I are on self-imposed lockdown, although we’ve had three negative Covid test results.  The virus is spiking.  Arizona has the highest number of cases in the country.

The Covid fountain draws a male Williamson’s sapsucker, yard bird #131 when a female first flashed her highlighter-yellow and black belly last month.  Although the purple finches have departed after nearly a month of visiting, the Cassin’s finches still prefer the very top of the fountain for sips of icy water.  As does my favorite bird of late, a single, curious, red-breasted nuthatch, who has adopted my yard since September.  According to eBird, it is the only one in the Mule Mountains.

A male Williamson’s Sapsucker, named for topographical engineer, Robert Stockton Williamson, in 1855, when it was discovered in the Pacific Northwest while surveying possible routes for the first transcontinental railroad.

The female Williamson’s Sapsucker, originally thought to be a different species when expedition naturalist John Newberry discovered the male (above).

A pair of Cassin’s Finches squabbles at the fountain.

I can expect to see this lonely Red-breasted Nuthatch every morning from September through April.

The Ruby-crowned Kinglet is a common winter resident of my yard.

Putting in its daily appearance at the fountain, a Hermit Thrush sizes up my 300mm camera lens.

The Yellow-eyed Junco is also a regular visitor in winter.

            This evening, I point my Canon EOS and its 300mm lens toward an astounding, once-in-a-lifetime alignment of Jupiter and Saturn, the so-called “Great Conjunction” but also referred to as the “Christmas Star.” Tonight, marks the planets’ closest encounter in 400 years, but visibly closest encounter in 800 years, when it occurred on the night of March 4, 1226.  

            It was the Middle Ages the last time someone looked up in the night sky to see these twin gas giants come together as one.  I suppose the star of Bethlehem gave people hope.  But for me, with the Pandemic raging in conjunction with our anti-science stupidity, it feels like we’ve turned back the centuries to the Dark Ages.

            A sign of the times.  Next, someone will say that leeches cure the rona.

The Great Conjunction of Jupiter (left) and Saturn, which last appeared in the sky like this 800 years ago. Notice also Jupiter’s moons, Callisto, Io, and Europa.

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