The Big Yard: Notes from a Pajama Birdwatcher

March 21, 2023

The planet’s lean toward summer carries with it the appearance of two additional hummingbirds in the yard: a henna-flanked broadtail and the violet-throated blackchin with the cleric’s collar.  With the Anna’s and rufous, we’re a third of the way to hummer maximum.  This year, I’m hoping for number 13—a glittering green and cinnabar hummingbird named for a precious stone, which visited my neighbor’s yard last July.

The first Berylline Hummingbird ever recorded in the Mule Mountains (Photo and documentation courtesy of Hayley Smith).

Black-chinned Hummingbird (male), one of the most common hummingbirds in the yard in summer.

I snap a few photos of the black-chinned hummingbird, thinking I’ll post one to Facebook to alert my birding community.  Then I remember and set the camera back on the table.  Bird photography and staying connected with family and my nature-watching friends is mostly what I use the platform for.  But a couple days ago when I attempted to log on, I got the message “You entered an old password.”  I tried to reset my password.  “Account Disabled.”

Someone with the obviously fake name “Jerry Avenaim” had hacked my account.  I learned the name when Facebook sent me a “Dear Jerry” email that said I couldn’t use Facebook or Messenger because activity on my account didn’t follow their community standards, adding, bluntly: “We have already reviewed this decision and it can’t be reversed.”

Thank you, Facebook Algorithm Team.   

From the email message, I tried the button for securing my account.  Then I tried the button for disagreeing with the decision.  Both times, “Your Account has been disabled.”  And here’s my favorite:  Under “Find My Account” it asked that I identify myself by entering my email address or mobile number.  When I complied, it gave me the message that I’m blocked because, “It looks like you were using this feature by going too fast.”  Too fast?  I type with three fingers!

I’ve alerted the daughters, who offered advice (“Change your passwords, Dad!) and worked on solutions.  Apparently, my secondary author page is still active—I just can’t access it.  I told the girls about an NPR story titled “Your Facebook Account Was Hacked.  Getting Help May Take Weeks—Or $299.”  Facebook, I learned, doesn’t have a phone number to call. There is no email to email.

My youngest daughter has the best suggestion.  “Forget Facebook, Dad. Only old people use it.  More people will have to subscribe to your blog!”

It was the loss of my online bird list in the beginning that sent me to eBird and the creation of The Big Yard.  Perhaps the loss of my Facebook page, which is impossible to rebuild and not worth the effort, will lead a real book about this yard, one you can hold in your hands.

For all my Facebook friends out there reading this, I will miss your humor and stories and insights into our crazy, wonderful world.  I will miss your community.

But welcome to The Big Yard!

A Townsend’s Solitaire visited the yard and fountain on March 12.

Bewick’s Wren, one of the regular yard birds.

A common winter visitor to the yard, the Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

Always the first oriole of the spring migration, the “Yucca Oriole.”

Still getting an extraordinary number of rare Cassin’s Finches in the yard: 36 with today’s count.

Thanks for being part of my birding community! More to come!