Morning Notes: The Day Before Thanksgiving

There’s a pink blush to the cloudy skies as I wake up this morning. A light wind is blowing and the overall effect is quite dramatic. It makes me want to run and toss my head like a wild pony! It makes me feel wild.

It’s the day before Thanksgiving and I have come downstairs early to start getting ready for the holiday. There is so much to be done: floors to wash and pies to bake, but first I am taking a few minutes for myself to think and to write. I miss writing. It is what I love most. So often I get caught up in the birding and the photography and I feel like I have left some of the writing behind, so please bear with me as I take a few moments to express myself!

I am a person who likes to feel connected. I have found it difficult lately to keep up with all my birding adventures. Chris Rohrer and the birds keep me on my toes! Because of this I can see that my blog has taken a different turn as it has become impossible for me to post these adventures as they happen. Things are out of sequence and that just bugs me, but I have had to let it go in favor of attending to the things that are most important, like spending time with my husband or my grandson, and counting the birds!

Yes, I count the birds on a daily basis at my house. I have now come to believe that this is the most important birding thing that I do. While racing around the state to see birds is fun (and I am not about to give it up!) It’s the daily bird count that I do that matters most. I also count the birds I see along familiar routes I drive and at my local grocery stores and shopping malls. With more and more people getting into eBird, there are plenty of people eBirding the favorite birding haunts. But dozens of checklists coming in from Sweetwater or Madera Canyon does not a complete picture make. While these locals are the bright and shining threads of a tapestry of birds, the birds at your local park, your school yard, or in your neighborhood and backyard are what fill in the blanks and make up the complete picture of bird populations. Having this complete picture is what eBird is all about. So while you are cleaning your house today or baking pies, take a few glances out the window at your feathered friends and be thankful that you have them. Then write down the time you started watching the birds, record the species you saw and the number of each species, then write down how much time you spent overall watching the birds (even if you stopped for an hour or two and then came back to it) and submit that info to eBird. It’s just that easy!

As for me and my blog; don’t worry, I am not going anywhere! However, in order to keep up to date with what is going on I will be posting a few more of these Morning Notes or Notes from My Nest just so I can keep you up to date on what is happening. Morning Notes will be notes I write first thing in the morning just to let you know what is going on that morning or what is on my mind. Notes From My Nest will be more of an overview of what is happening in the backyard or in my life. Meanwhile, Artsy Fartsy Fridays will continue, as well as my regular birding adventures. I hope you like these new features. Now, it’s time to go bake some pies!

• November Days-my newest poem
• Kneaded: A Collection of Family Recipes-my newest blog
• What’s THAT in the Grass?-yesterday’s post
• Notes from My Nest 

 Sunrise in my neighborhood 11-27-13

P.S. Scroll down for yesterday’s post. More bird stories and pictures coming later today!