Birds of Pray
It happens too often for it to be a coincidence. Every time I have a life-altering day or a major decision in my life, I always run into a bird of prey. You know, a hawk, a falcon, and eagle, a kestrel, etc. I'd like to say it's because I do a lot of hiking and I always see them on the trails, but I haven't hiked on the weekend in nearly a year! Most of the time, I see them in urban areas like freeways, lampposts, marinas, and in residential areas.
First of all, I'm an avid amateur birdwatcher. You can put avid in front of either "amateur" or "birdwatcher". Most of what I know I learned, I did in two semesters in college. This is enough to identify most birds, to sex them, and to even say a little tidbit on its natural history. I have a passion for birds, hence the "birdwatcher". The "amateur" comes into play because I haven't developed my skills since then! I don't have a life list or a journal. I haven't gone out hiking to specifically go birdwatching in at least five years! I haven't even visited my favorite site in that amount of time - the raptor migration at the Marin Headlands. I guess you might call me a lazy birdwatcher. But I still keep them close to my heart. In fact, I've got a birdfeeder in my front yard, and I enjoy just watching house finches and house sparrows alike chomp on the little seeds. I even get genuinely excited when I hear news like the Ivory-billed Woodpecker is back off the extinct species list! I know, I'm quite the fruity little ornithologist.
But there's something wholly unnerving, exciting, and spiritual about my encounters with birds of prey specifically. When I decided to quit my dead-end job at Kelly Scientific, a Cooper's Hawk perched itself on a lamppost right in front of my car. In fact, I was sitting in the parking lot for nearly a half hour, contemplating whether or not I should quit my job. Once I saw the bird, I knew what my decision would be. When I was in college, and I took a Natural History of Vertebrates class, we went on a ton of field trips to look for shit. At that time, I wasn’t really that much into nature. But when I was sitting along a hillside with the rest of my classmates, as the clouds passed by, a Golden Eagle flew no more than 20 feet from me. It was the largest bird I had ever seen up until then. At that moment, I knew I wanted to be a Naturalist.
More than 10 of these so-called “bird of prey sightings” have happened within the past ten years (as long as I have been paying attention). Each time, it’s helped me make a tough decision, re-invigorate me, remind me of my priorities in life, or just even had a good day. As I am re-connecting to God more and more every day, I can’t help but to think that it’s him who’s sending me these “Birds of Pray”. They might be Archangels guiding me or even protecting me; don’t angels have wings? They might be loved ones who have passed, and are reminding me the that they are watching over my family and me. Whatever they are, they are a blessing. And I hope to continue to be blessed by their presence in the future.
The scientist in me wants to say that they are no more than a typical bird-sighting. Or a wayward bird going into an urban area. But my spirit is telling me that they are more than that. Most recently, I was at the Berkeley Marina and while my buddy, Kristina was talking to a group of fourth graders, a female Northern Harrier landed on a tree branch no more than 10 feet from us. Needless to say, it was a very good day, and since then, I’ve been having a fabulous week. My favorite bird of prey is the American Kestrel, and I’m gonna try to convince Jo to give our next kid that middle name, or at least nickname if it’sa girl. If it’s a boy, I’m gonna stick with Malachi, which is Hebrew for “messenger of God”. I also got a picture frame of a bunch of raptors, and I’m trying to convince Joanne to have me put it up in the living room. It matches the décor of the room very well, but Joanne thinks it’s a little weird. Maybe if she knew how important they are to me and the safety of our family, she’d think otherwise.
A female Northern Harrier ready to take off
First of all, I'm an avid amateur birdwatcher. You can put avid in front of either "amateur" or "birdwatcher". Most of what I know I learned, I did in two semesters in college. This is enough to identify most birds, to sex them, and to even say a little tidbit on its natural history. I have a passion for birds, hence the "birdwatcher". The "amateur" comes into play because I haven't developed my skills since then! I don't have a life list or a journal. I haven't gone out hiking to specifically go birdwatching in at least five years! I haven't even visited my favorite site in that amount of time - the raptor migration at the Marin Headlands. I guess you might call me a lazy birdwatcher. But I still keep them close to my heart. In fact, I've got a birdfeeder in my front yard, and I enjoy just watching house finches and house sparrows alike chomp on the little seeds. I even get genuinely excited when I hear news like the Ivory-billed Woodpecker is back off the extinct species list! I know, I'm quite the fruity little ornithologist.
But there's something wholly unnerving, exciting, and spiritual about my encounters with birds of prey specifically. When I decided to quit my dead-end job at Kelly Scientific, a Cooper's Hawk perched itself on a lamppost right in front of my car. In fact, I was sitting in the parking lot for nearly a half hour, contemplating whether or not I should quit my job. Once I saw the bird, I knew what my decision would be. When I was in college, and I took a Natural History of Vertebrates class, we went on a ton of field trips to look for shit. At that time, I wasn’t really that much into nature. But when I was sitting along a hillside with the rest of my classmates, as the clouds passed by, a Golden Eagle flew no more than 20 feet from me. It was the largest bird I had ever seen up until then. At that moment, I knew I wanted to be a Naturalist.
More than 10 of these so-called “bird of prey sightings” have happened within the past ten years (as long as I have been paying attention). Each time, it’s helped me make a tough decision, re-invigorate me, remind me of my priorities in life, or just even had a good day. As I am re-connecting to God more and more every day, I can’t help but to think that it’s him who’s sending me these “Birds of Pray”. They might be Archangels guiding me or even protecting me; don’t angels have wings? They might be loved ones who have passed, and are reminding me the that they are watching over my family and me. Whatever they are, they are a blessing. And I hope to continue to be blessed by their presence in the future.
The scientist in me wants to say that they are no more than a typical bird-sighting. Or a wayward bird going into an urban area. But my spirit is telling me that they are more than that. Most recently, I was at the Berkeley Marina and while my buddy, Kristina was talking to a group of fourth graders, a female Northern Harrier landed on a tree branch no more than 10 feet from us. Needless to say, it was a very good day, and since then, I’ve been having a fabulous week. My favorite bird of prey is the American Kestrel, and I’m gonna try to convince Jo to give our next kid that middle name, or at least nickname if it’sa girl. If it’s a boy, I’m gonna stick with Malachi, which is Hebrew for “messenger of God”. I also got a picture frame of a bunch of raptors, and I’m trying to convince Joanne to have me put it up in the living room. It matches the décor of the room very well, but Joanne thinks it’s a little weird. Maybe if she knew how important they are to me and the safety of our family, she’d think otherwise.
A female Northern Harrier ready to take off
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