WARBLERS AND BACKYARD PILGRIMAGE
Warblers were a brief presence in early spring. Busy flecks, greeny yellow, black striped, flew in streaks of light. From the slough through willows whipping around the shed and trees and back. Some in migratory transit, some here to breed. Yellow-rumped warblers begin to nest in coastal BC at the end of April. They can double brood. But the weather was so discouraging, none stayed. There are 21 varieties of warblers in BC, not even experts can distinguish all of them. The average backyard birder is happy just to notice them.
Heard their wispy songs standing in the slough in boots with binoculars in hand, spying for tell-tale wing bars. Staying in one place, just looking, relaxed and yet alert.
Where is holy? Somewhere else, to where I could laboriously travel, climb many steps, endure bad accommodation for a glimpse of something called sacred?
Travel opens you up. You notice new and different aspects of your own identity. You become more curious and engaged. Travel will trouble you, challenge you and leave you changed. A traveler inevitably asks the big questions about life/death, goodness/brokenness. On a true journey, one can discover how to pay very close attention to the smallest details. What you notice changes the assessment of your own culture and life choices. You return, a refreshed version of your old self because you have been temporarily outside of that old self.
When I was young, I hitchhiked to Istanbul. What crazy impulsive, dangerous things youth do. My parents had no idea. Would I allow any young person to do that now? Of course not. And, yes, in my day was it less dangerous? You could walk around in the Top Kapi Palace all day, no security, no gates, no tickets. The famous Hagia Sophia, once a Christian cathedral now a mosque, was empty, (the outside wall was a public urinal). Looking back, I see I was under the protection of angels because I was not very alert to dangers: long blond hair, long-legged hitchhiker!
I am not referring to tourism, which is a totally different experience. Tourism is a “quick hit, no commit”, tourists don’t really have to get it. Just take the selfies and cross it off your bucket list. The great temple sites in Cambodia, built on boggy land, are sinking because of the weight of the tourist buses. The ruins of the great Library at Ephesus are so crowded there’s no place to sit or be still. When the cruise ships unload their day trippers, the wide streets of central Florence are packed like sardine cans.
The back-yard birder can also be a traveller, even a pilgrim. The BC artist, Cathie Falk, who made paintings of puddles and concrete and many wonderful and weird objects, once said, “What’s the point of seeing the Pyramids if you don’t know how to see the beauty of your own rainy sidewalk?” The Amazon Basin can offer many exotic parrots to the Global Lister birder, but my own neighbourhood has exotics: a Caliope hummingbird was recently identified at a feeder on street! Skip the passport inspection, security, unhealthy airports, unpredictable flights, and you’ll have more gazing time and a bigger savings account.
Does this sound enviously priggish? I confess, of course I have a travel craving. What diocesan senior does not crave some sunny clime in February? Somewhere nice if you’re too old to sleep in bus stations. How about Costa Rica? Instead, explore Coastal BC-ica. Aaaah! But there are great documentaries about Central America if you are old-fashioned enough to watch them on Knowledge Network
A pilgrim travels ancient routes, follows the paths of saints, seeks out the history of her/his own religious traditions. Bless them. Pilgrims on a way to experience the sacred, honestly seeking, will find it. But airplanes pollute the skies. Indigenous people become servants, earn, take pride until the local resources become too strained to accommodate the now economically necessary visitors. The locals become displaced in their own towns and villages. Their kids are influenced by western secular values. Fragile cultures fray.
Each year many of you reading this may travel away from the diocese to see family and friends, to explore, to be entertained, to seek out new stimulation or to learn new ways. All of those can also be pilgrimages. What is sacred is not necessarily exotic. The pilgrim path can also be found in your own backyard or local park. When we make time and pay attention, the ordinary and local are suffused with the sacred.
There are many who have never been interested in birds and those who were, may no longer be able to do so. These pieces that I write often mention birds, either literally or metaphorically, sometimes both. The best kinds of truths are those which can be read both ways, simultaneously. Backyard birding is not for everyone. There are also wildflowers, native trees, local geology, stream-keeping, permaculture, and many more local options. For those who no longer get out much, balcony bird-feeding. Consider supporting local wildlife groups. Wean a great grandchild temporarily of devices to share an absorbing activity. Get out a magnifier; slip in a prayer.
Recent confirmed sightings near my home include American Kestrels and Mountain Bluebirds. During my summer holidays/holy days, I hope to do some slow searching for them. Is that the distinctive song of an orange crowned warbler I hear? Amble back to the slough with slow caution. What’s the rush? The sighting might be missed now but, hopefully, it will return next year.
Come the end of June, the hermit thrush are due to return. Their silvery fluting is a summer evening treasure. It never fails to thrill, calm, and refresh me. Wonder and delight. No lost luggage.
Hannah Main-van der Kamp enjoys travel in a 10 km radius from her home south of Powell River
IMAGES
- Hagia Sophia in Istanbul iStock 116387804
- A Yellow-Rumped Warbler iStock 1481915833