Birding in the Time of Coronavirus

Sitting on my porch, I am glad to hear the robins, cardinals, Carolina wrens and other birds calling at dawn, even if dawn is now an hour later thanks to Daylight Savings Time. The forsythia, daffodils and hyacinth are in bloom, the shrubs are budding and the crocus and snowdrops are fading.

It is a wonderful time of year. But it is also the time of coronavirus.

The wide-open space of Great Swamp (Margo D. Beller)

This virus is not new, but the strain, found in 2019, is - highly contagious, easily spread, first found in the Chinese market city of Wuhan when it passed from animals to people.

So, unfortunately, we have a new word in our vocabulary - COVID-19. 

This plague has been virulent in coastal cities, including New York, because they are hubs for travelers and commuters who have brought the virus in from elsewhere or bring it home. There is no vaccine for it and most who will contract it will have mild, almost flu-like cases. Those who are particularly vulnerable to being deathly ill are older people with pre-existing conditions.

While people in the cities have been freaking out, the suburbs with their office parks have not, at least to me. But with many schools closed and markets selling out of bread, toilet paper and cleaning supplies including hand sanitizer, that may change. MH went to the market for cans of soup, as he did before Hurricane Sandy. But this time he was too late - shelves were depleted (except for two cans of soup he found) and lines at the register were long. He said everyone was calm.

Last Monday, having two risk factors and having to travel to work on public trains where an increasing number of people have been wearing masks (or an equivalent) and gloves, I was getting very worried about my health. I stayed home Tuesday. That day we learned someone in our building tested positive for the virus. My office was ordered to work from home for the foreseeable future.

Start of a boardwalk trail at Great Swamp (Margo D. Beller)

So I've been at home, relieved of my backpack burden. But after the first few days of taking dawn walks or sitting on the porch after putting the feeders out in daylight rather than darkness I started feeling cabin fever and knew that I would have to get out at least one weekend day.

While MH refused to budge, I left Saturday morning for the wide open spaces of Great Swamp in hopes of finding one of the earliest returning migrants, the phoebe. I was not disappointed. I was also cheered by finding bluebirds and a tree swallow. Overall, as far as birding went, it was quiet. But to my surprise I found a lot of people who also felt the need to get out, either to go birding (with binoculars or large-lensed cameras), walk their dogs (on leash in a natural wildlife preserve) or travel with their children.

Normally I don't like being around other people while I seek out birds, but this time I was glad to see others had decided, like me, to put aside their concerns, stay away from their phones and televisions, and just get out for some fresh, cool air and sunshine.

The Passaic River as I listened to frogs from a bench (Margo D. Beller)

My first stop was on a boardwalk trail, which always draws people. A few of them pointed out the phoebe I'd been hearing, giving me a chance to see this welcome visitor. At my next stop, however, I was completely alone except for the chorus of spring peepers, tree frogs, the occasional pickerel and the small turtles known as sliders. I sat on a bench looking at the Passaic River and listened to the sounds of spring.

My last stop was the Great Swamp tour road, which also had many people walking or driving through. On my way home I drove through Jockey Hollow and was amazed by the large number of people, alone and in small groups, hiking the tour road or the trails. These were not birders - no cameras or binoculars - but people who felt the great need to GET OUT on a very nice day. Like Great Swamp, Jockey Hollow is a federally run facility and I was glad both were open. (Other parks, such as Duke Farms, had shut their gates and closed for at least two weeks because of the virus.)

I got home to MH tired, hungry but glad I had been out for a few hours. I would advise others to be careful, wash your hands but go outside and get away from the bad news every so often to save your sanity.