Week 8 - Presence: Observe animals in their natural habitat.

…Whether you participate in The Great Backyard Bird Count, feed ducks, scout land for hunting season, or watch for wild horses or burros, log your findings in iNaturalist.

February and March were a bit of a blur. What social time Fitz and I had together, we had other friends with us. If people visit Phoenix from out of town, February and March are the prime months to be here. This year was no exception. In the last couple of months, we hosted 3 different friends and had another friend in town who was not staying with us. We took friends along on some of these dates… though they didn’t really know we were on a planned date. That would just be weird. We skipped a couple of the dates. I certainly delayed blogging about the dates while people were visiting. Now we are back to our everyday routine. Yesterday, I cleaned, did laundry, and filed our taxes. Today, I’m catching up on sharing what we have been up to during the last two months of Cheap Dates.

Week 8 was about being present as we observed animals in their natural habitat. We had talked about going to the Salt River to see the wild horses. Neither of us have ever see them but it is recommended to go during dawn or dusk. We couldn’t make it work with other priorities. We decided to try this date a little closer to home, specifically, in our backyard just watching the birds. We used to spend more time on our patio but we haven’t been out back much this year. This is mainly because Fitz quit smoking in January! It’s a huge celebration, but we have been “having a cuppa” indoors more often. No need to trigger the desire to smoke while we have our tea or coffee. We both miss being out on the patio, especially now that it not so cold. (I know. I know. Phoenix never really gets cold, but it was a frigid winter for us. We broke out coats and gloves and even stopped wearing flip-flops.) For Week 8, we opened a bottle of wine and headed to the patio to watch the birds.

Had this date actually happened during Week 8 (instead of Week 9 when we did it), the date would have fallen over February 15-18th. That was the weekend of The Great Backyard Bird Count, an annual citizen-science project that gets a snapshot of which birds are where during a long weekend. Though Fitz would not describe himself as a birder, he knows birds. (On a side-note, he’s British and we have a number or friends who grew up in the UK. We have noticed that Brits know bird taxonomy while Americans know plant taxonomy. Test it out. Brits are all closet birders.)

We have quite a variety of birds visit our backyard, including owls and raptors. We keep a cheap pair of binoculars out there that Fitz uses to watch his feathered friends. We also have a completely ugly, topless-palm-tree in our backyard, that looks like a shriveling telephone pole. It should have been cut down years ago, but no; the palm fronds dried out and the tree died in the first place because it is the annual nesting place for a vocal family of Starlings. I wouldn’t have known they were Starlings, but you know who did— Fitz. He does not want me to remove the eyesore of a tree. He can’t fathom having them return in March to discover they are homeless. I admit that I do enjoy having the Starlings return each year so I live with the desiccated tree stump and just try to avoid looking up to decapitated top where palm fronds should be.

Since the date was focused on “presence” we left our phones indoors and I didn’t bring my camera. We opted to just talk, drink some wine, enjoy the weather, smell the jasmine and citrus blossoms in the air, pass the binoculars back and forth, and observe the Starlings as they refreshed their nest. It is easy to be present in the moment when you have surroundings you enjoy and no distractions.

The Starling nest is in a fairly genius location. It is in line with our back wall, just a couple of feet away. The birds hop out onto the wall to scan their surroundings, re-position materials for the nest so they will fit through the opening, and have their young practice with their wings since there isn’t much room in the nest. Starlings are pretty vocal birds and have a diverse array of sounds, chirps, and chatter. Sometimes it seems like we have R2-D2 living in our tree. I learned that they often mimic sounds in their environment, but so far, I haven’t heard them imitating or mocking us.

Because we were focused on presence and I didn’t have my camera, the pictures I’m posting are actually from last year. We are probably still a couple of weeks away from any eggs hatching. I look forward to see them trying to feed their insatiable chicks. Mama and Papa bird continuously bring food and it looks exhausting, but I appreciate the partnership exhibited in raising their young.

If you try out this date, consider whether you want to be part of citizen-science and log your observations in iNaturalist, a global network of people observing and learning about biodiversity. Check out their introductory video or teacher’s guide. I use it frequently, especially when I come across a bug or plant and say, “What is that?” I can upload a picture and get answers from those who know. I like to think of it a little like Pokémon GO in real life. In fact, if I weren’t already a regular user, the nerd in me would love to just have a date using iNaturalist on a walk, hike, or bio-blitz. You can join specific projects where scientists are focused on logging specific species or phenomena, like logging the flora and fauna in Phoenix’s Parks. While they have an app that allows for more mobility, I prefer the website since it seems much easier to navigate. Check it out, if you haven’t already used it for hours of cheap entertainment and learning.

All in all, this date was a purposeful, pleasant break in a pretty normal day, but that may have been just what we needed. After about 20 minutes, I wanted to skip a song that was playing and look something up and so I went in to get my phone and that marked the official end of our date. Maybe wild horses will drag us away and we’ll try this date again on the Salt River.

Next up, Week 9: Positivity: Attend a sporting event together with a goal of spending little or no money. (Choose your own budget)