Berkeley Backyard Bird Blog: Teachable Moments & Existential Lessons Learned From Ordinary Ol' Urban Birds

High Voltage Crow Trio

Watching urban birds

go about their curious business

entails a lot of idle standing around.

Urban dwelling Sparrow (?)

Peering into trees,

staring at bushes,

glimpsing into private backyards.

Male House Finch clutching strand of grass

Hoping to catch a high wire act.

Interesting plumage colors popping on European Starling

What I'm doing might appear

to be a prosaic activity –

or (heaven forbid!) a suspicious one!

White Dove roosting on electrical wires

Like the time I was approached and questioned by the Director of the Jewish Community Center (turned in by a mom coming to pick up her kid!) for aiming binoculars in a children's playground area along a protected, fenced-in woodsy stretch of Codornices Creek.

Lesser Goldfinch hopping around in a garden

Moments before, imagine, I had actually honed in on a Green-backed Adult Lesser Goldfinch perched resolutely on a branch, a noble little creature thinking himself hidden and secure, but in plain viewing sight.

Lesser Goldfinch spotted in tree at JCC

With a mixture of enthusiasm, pride and eventually relief, once I caught the subtle drift that the elderly Director was vetting my intentions, I pointed to the pretty little bird about 50 feet up and away in thick brush and invited him to have a look.

Off-limits fenced-in protected stretch of Codornices Creek on JCC property

He amiably accepted the binoculars, peered through them silently for a few seconds, then handed them back, waving off the "incident" telling me, "You're OK, you're OK."

Varied Thrush on JCC property

Gee, thanks, Mr. Director!

But I do understand you had to vet me out,

suspicious birder that I am!

White-crowned Sparrow

As a bird aficionado, for whatever reason, I'm mostly a lone wolf and uninterested in "taking to the next level" my avian obsession. My love of birds is a poetic pastime, an aesthetic avocation, a whimsical pursuit of endeavoring to grok the magical, mysterious, and mystical aspects of birds.

Finches at the feeder

Nothing more and nothing less.

Wilson's Warbler cooling off in John Hinkel Park spring

I prefer to not know too, too much, deriving (as I do) an inordinate satisfaction from just being in the simple sacred miraculous moment, where "regular life" becomes a series of opportunities to steal away and obsess on birds.

Red-shouldered Hawk alighting in Live Oak Park

A walk to the library or grocery store or a quick garden or weather check invariably turns into a perfect excuse to – hold life's presses! – just stand around in meditative wonderment (idly) spotting playful birds, birds at play, and birds at work.

Rooftop Gulls

Renowned birder and author David Lindo,

(Tales from Concrete Jungles: Urban Birding Around the World)

writes that it took him:

Finch perched on high wire

" . . . years to truly believe

that I could find birds in cities."

Avocets on SF Bay a stone's throw from roaring traffic

Then, the inevitable epiphany:

Red-tailed Hawk perched on pylon gazing down on meadow

"When you start to see the urban world as a habitat with cliffs, woodland, marshes, lakes, rivers and scrubland,

that is when you start to see birds."

Crow on abandoned chimney

You know what Lindo means when he says "see birds" is more than literal. Whether birding in the field, at a local park or in my backyard, it's easy to get caught up in the hoopla of "Life Lists" and "Big Years" and "First Sightings".

Cedar Waxwing guarding stash of berries on city block

The competitive fire, forever hoping to up the tally and spot a new, exciting bird. But barring doing that – i.e., being a "professional hobbyist", owning high-tech sophisticated gear, joining birding groups, going on outings, taking classes . . .

Codornices Creek burbling through the Berkeley Rose Garden

. . . what's left is urban backyard birding

in richly landscaped and tree-dense

Berkeley neighborhoods.

Over-grown stretch of urban-cum-wild creekside habitat

Any urban neighborhood will do,

so long as there are

trees, bushes, little creeks

or even artificial ponds.

Northern Mockingbird striking a pose

Where there are many, many birds to see.

The big Oak in the side yard of Berryman Street

Where 108-year old Interior Live Oak

resides in the side yard.

(over 25 species spotted over the years)

Lots of nectar to be lapped up by hungry Hummers

Where overgrown back lots

teem with mature pines

and Chinese Lantern bushes

attracting many interesting characters.

Crows - not Red-winged Blackbirds!

I almost have to question:

is this urban or wild?

Live Oak Park in the city of Berkeley

Where spring-fed creeks enhance city parks,

all within walking distance

small gems beckoning:

Codornices Creek charms with supernal beauty

Live Oak & Codornices

Mortar Rock & Indian Rock

Great Stoneface & John Hinkel

Mortar Rock Park - great place to spot tons of birds

The idea of urban birding

as dull, boring, prosaic

can officially be laid to rest.

Hawk through the open window (actually, it's a reflection)

Lindo, calling it "a bit of a mindset thing," says:

Codornices Creek dumping into San Francisco Bay

" . . . there is not a day when I don't marvel

at the nature that surrounds me

in my urban environment . . .

birds are my life, my love,

my sanctuary and my therapy."

Finch with characteristic red rump patch

Sure, every twenty years or so maybe, a Painted Redstart will appear, or a freak visitation by a Northern Waterthrush. And yes, I've spotted Wild Turkeys, Western Bluebirds, Cedar Waxwings, and Cooper's Hawks in the city, and one very bizarre white Dove-cum-Pigeon I saw and photographed a couple of years ago in the neighborhood.

Urban bird-attracting landscaping

With eyeballs peeled, I'm forever hoping to spot a passing passerine other than one on the laundry list of common urban birds I spot daily with zero / minimal effort they're so – public! The usual "pedestrian" suspects: Towhee, Jay, Sparrow, Chickadee, Robin, Finch, Crow, Pigeon, Junco.

The aesthetic that Lindo captures in his worldly peregrinations is a simple, humble act of bearing witness to the insignificant activities of mean and occult little birds who go about their lives unnoticed, unheralded, and under-appreciated.

Swans tooling around in a city pond

Perhaps somewhat true, but for the keen observer so eager to spot one of the little winged creatures livening up the urban landscape and high voltage wires, they are anything but!

Lindo writes:

Catbird making the rounds

"I would be so sad

if those everyday occurrences were to cease."

Pelican chillin' at the marina

Ecce Ave!

Crow atop church cross

The little winged creatures in our midst provide an immeasurably nuanced thrill of real discovery, tiny cherishable moments inducing giddy joy (!) and irrepressible enthusiasm (!) – do you feel it?

Feeding and preening Ducks

How do you feel being somehow privy to birds' innermost workings, their deeply secret comings and mysterious goings, the dizzying array of doings of our little urban bird friends?

House Sparrow

They are truly wild creatures of Earth!

Osprey in the urban-wild ecotone

And, duly noted, they serve as prey and are avidly hunted by other food chain predator wild creatures of the urban zone – Hawks, Falcons, Owls, Ospreys.

Mother Goose and her goslings

Once you start to see birds, then will their precious natures be revealed to the keen observer, then will their quirky personalities bursting with dazzling vitality be unveiled in plain sight.

Swallows under a bridge

Once you start to see birds, then will the magic of their lives unfold, then will their bird-brainy secrets be peeled away in layers of shared avian consciousness.

Willow Flycatcher on her brood

Dramatis Avianae:

Oak Titmouse

A bouncy, handsome little guy who seldom sits still, is often obscured deep in the branches; and is vocally prominent, as though mocking the shit out of you, you're often fooled by the variegated high-pitched shrills, and constantly thwarted in aurally ID'ing the bird; then, once spotted, well, of course, he's the inimitable Oak Titmouse!

Northern Flicker

This flighty bird's extraordinary patterning and elegant coat of splendid colors; his perfectly rounded red beauty mark gracing his neck, says it all about Northern Flickers. Every time I'm lucky enough to espy a Northern Flicker, I always come away feeling like I just saw an exotic bird, and have a feeling of having established a special affinity, but no doubt an illusory and tenuous connection.

Pigeon

Let us now consider this bird, the Pigeon, perhaps the most taken-for-granted, reviled urban bird of all time! And yet . . . just look! Isn't he such a pretty, unassuming bird!

Pigeons in La Paz zocalo

And yet . . . such undeserved street cred!

Weird-looking Dove (Pigeon relation)

Unless you are a Pigeon lover, that is!

Pigeon beauty

Lindo relates how he has "found my peace" with the brilliantly plumed, scruffy scavenger birds; how he became enamored of their amenable natures and surprisingly high IQs.

Pigeon

" . . . they can recognize the human faces

that feed them in a crowd . . .

they have even allegedly learnt to use

the underground system in London

by deliberately getting on trains

and getting off at specific stops."

California Towhee in bird house

And honorable mention for yawning banality goes to those flying brown blobs of fat and feathers, the ubiquitous California Towhees!

Towhee after a dip in the creek

(Note to self: trying admiring them more.)

Crows gathering on sidewalk to feed

Oh, and the (so-called) commonplace, opportunistic Crow. But what of its ingenious quirkiness and supernal intelligence of the highest order? ("For a bird"?). A creature capable of recognizing individual humans, recalling slights, and behaving altruistically.

Crow mates grooming

Don't despise or dismiss Crow, Human!

Say, didja hear about the Duck who walks into a bar . . .

The goofiness of Geese and silliness of Ducks is always a fun stuff. OK, so it's a bit anthropomorphic to ascribe risible traits to our resident Waterfowl, but let's admit, they have a knack for eliciting chortles from even a disinterested curmudgeon.

Dark-eyed Junco on the deck

Ah, Juncos! They come in many flavors, and they're always chirpy and chippy, flying off to reveal their split white tail, or casting off a quizzical look from a fence. When I see them in different light, from a different angle, I'm like – wait! – that isn't a Junco, is it? Sure enough is.

Ground-feeding Mourning Dove

Mourning Doves are way cool, whether chilling on a lone branch, ground feeding, perched on a high wire (which they love), or flying off swiftly and sleekly in formation with a dozen mates. I used to not notice them. Now, I always do.

Steller's Jay with picnic pickings

Do you?

Chickens wandering around

Even Chickens, for they are birds, too,

and deserve our attention and compassion.

Robin in search of a worm

The "mundane activity of urban birding" and the "prosaic nature of urban birds" is anything but. In fact, urban birding is as exciting as "wild" birding farther afield in our extensive green belt of open spaces, parks and wilderness areas.

Song Sparrow (I believe)

Think about it – right in our midst, we are so fortunate and blessed with many exciting encounters and sightings with birds who pass through or call the urban environment their permanent home:

The quantum vibrations that are Hummingbirds

All that Jazz of Jays

Lively Bushtits (their conical shaped nest)

Golden-Crowned Sparrows feeding in bunches

"Goodpeckers" bangin' away in a tree
(as my Spanish-speaking amigo once called Woodpeckers)

Flighty little Black Phoebes

And the occasional "exotic" passer-throughs – Cedar Waxwings, Pacific-slope Flycatchers, Varied Thrushes, and the Warbling Vireo.

Scrub Jay

ET AL. (AND ALL OF THEM!)

Junco attracted to car mirror

The thing is: Every little bird on the move captures my attention and engages the engines of curiosity and pistons of wonder at so much subtle, hidden, dynamic life happening all around!

Ragged urban Sparrow

And mostly without a single human being noticing, too busy they are hustling here and there and faces buried in digital devices. Except for the old school cool among you, paying homage to the most 'umble and ordinary of our bird denizens – our urban avifauna.