learning to see birds
Today is my first day visiting the basin! I've passed by it many times on my way to Sacramento but this is the first time I'm visiting the basin with the intention of observing. I'm not a bird expert, so I went in with the mindset of learning to see birds here rather than trying to identify specific species. I wanted to get a sense of how birds use the space and what it feels like to be there as an observer.
I chose an unusal day to explore the basin. We had some heavy rains earlier in the month, leaving the ground mushy and flooding to overflow. The main parking lot to the basin was closed when I arrived. We saw some other cars parked along top of the levee road and decided to park along with them. Using only the resources from the bypass websites (both by then foundation and the government), the space felt open but not clearly structured for visitors. Trails were not marked clearly from the levee road. We had to rely more on intuition for navigation over the signage.
Bring binoculars and a telescoping lens for the Canon. Distance makes observation difficult without tools.
Earlier in the week I had bought some used birding books from Logos Books in downtown Davis. Paired with my handy dandy birding observation book I bought from Newsbeat in Davis, I was ready to begin my first explorations into bird watching. Most of the visit was spent adjusting to the new landscape, learning where to look, how long to stay still, and how quickly birds move in and out of view.
