birds
i've been thinking of taking up birding for a while. my maternal grandfather loved nature, and he passed that love onto his children, and they passed it on to their children, in all cases, some more strongly than others. i've often had one of the less-strong connections, but spending time with my family (or even chatting with them via text messages) often reminds me that it's part of our heritage and inspires me to want to know more. the other day when i was walking to the grocery store i decided to finally make an account in the Merlin bird-identification app, and make a record of what i saw: ring-billed gulls in the parking lot, mourning doves and house sparrows flitting around our and our neighbors' back yards. i think i also saw a female robin, but it was far away and of course less distinct than the male, so i didn't record it.
i don't leave the house very often, on account of my disability. but even going downstairs to the back porch i know there's quite a few different species around: robins, occasional blue jays and cardinals, crows, song sparrows and house finches and european starlings are all ones i know i've seen before. and, because this is the Boston area, the occasional flock of turkeys will come wandering by like they own the place, which of course they do. other than the turkeys, these are all very common birds across much of the US, unlikely to be anyone's spark bird... but they all still lift my heart when i see them, and make me wonder about what they do when they're not alighting on a fence or a shrub or a gutter.
i just went downstairs to take out some trash, and made an effort to spend a few minutes actually looking to see what birds were around. there weren't as many as i often see: a couple house sparrows hanging out in the barren rosebush in our back yard, a gull or two flying overhead, and i think i saw two mourning doves hanging out in a tree on the other side of the block, but they were too far away to be sure. no one using the couple of feeders our neighbors on one side have; no one flitting about in the tall hedge our neighbors on the other side have on the outside of their lot. it was a bit disappointing not to see more, but i could feel the quality of my attention changing as i listened for song and looked for shapes that didn't match the foliage, and that alone was worthwhile.
hopefully sometime this year i'll get some entry level binoculars, and make an effort to traipse out to the small handful of green spaces within walking difference. i'd love to be able to take pictures of the birds i see, too, but the equipment for that seems much more intimidating and i really don't know where to even start with it.