Birding From My Front Porch

I have to admit this rain is starting to depress me.  I stepped out onto the front porch this morning wondering how I was going to survive the day. There was a brief let up in the rain and suddenly a group of eight Eurasian Collard Doves flew up onto the power line across the street, a couple of crows started their cawing, a House Sparrow flew up to a porch pillar, and a couple of jays joined into the conversation. About that point I noticed this Red-breasted Sapsucker on our cherry tree. I ducked back into the house and grabbed my camera; maybe there was a reason to keep on breathing. I snapped off 20 photos and then I got to thinking about a birding program we attended last week in Roseburg at which Dr. Doug Robinson introduced his “Oregon 2020”, a state-wide bird survey. One of the ways in which citizens can participate is by recording daily observations, even as brief as five minutes long from their own yard. Maybe this will work for me, a kind of therapy to survive the rain, birding five to ten minutes from the cover of my front porch.