My porch sanctuary: birds, blooms, and solitude
Edition #22
Where the world slows down and I remember how to breathe
With all the noise and chaos of life these days, I find it increasingly difficult to quiet my mind. The constant mental clutter drains my energy and stifles my creativity - is this happening to anyone else?
Escaping to my front porch
A daily retreat to my little oasis is becoming a needed ritual. My porch provides a simple sanctuary where I get easily distracted by the sights and sounds of nature and the birds.
In fact, my early morning ritual continues as such - I make a cup of coffee and head to the front porch. As soon as I open the front door, I hear the birds chirping away. I step out and immediately take a deep breath to soak in the morning smells. Most mornings the “cooing” sound of the mourning dove welcomes me. My body starts to relax. Many of the birds I hear hover in the trees and bushes surrounding the porch. I look and listen to see if any fly out from their hiding places to say hello to me. Most times, the birds continue their lively conversation, completely unfazed by my presence. That’s okay. I am content to listen to them singing their songs of happiness and contentment .
For best viewing of this post, may I suggest using the Substack mobile/desktop app or view it in your browser. As this post is a bit long, Substack may truncate it when delivered to your email inbox.
My front porch birding hotspot provided a lot of excitement during migration May
The front porch continues to be the best spot so far (for me) for birding activity. We have visited other popular and local birding hotspots and never get the amount and variety of birds that visit us at home. My theory is that we have excellent bird cover close by - mature trees (both deciduous and not), healthy bushes/shrubs, minimal road noise and an environment that seems to be safe for birds to come and stay. Typically, we get Robins, Cardinals, finches, wrens, woodpeckers, mourning doves, tufted Titmouse and other common varieties.
During the month of May (known as a popular month for birds migrating from the south to the north), the following birds “touched” down near our front porch. Most of these birds made at least one appearance near our front porch.
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Indigo Bunting
Baltimore Oriole
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Pine Siskin
Pine Warbler
Warbling Vireo
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Chimney Swift
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Parula
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Cedar Waxwing
Northern Flicker
However, during the last few days of May, I noticed a distinct disappearance of many of these - especially the warblers.
Did you have unusual migratory birds visit you in May?
Enjoying this post? Please visit my website on Substack to access more of my posts on the outdoors.
An unwelcome visit from a predator - a hawk on patrol
One morning last week (May 25 to be accurate), the birds were just calling and calling incessantly to each other. Much more than any other morning that I could remember. I went to the front porch and did not see anything in particular - just a lot of noisy bird chatter - like they were protesting.
Our bird sky patrol was on duty as a hawk swooped in like it had a warrant
Then my husband called out to me from the back deck and said that a hawk was flying low through the woods near the back of our house. I rushed to the back and sure enough, there he was - a Red-Tailed Hawk swooped in low through our back woods.
It seems that our community of birds had formed a neighborhood watch program on their own…..and their cacophony of sounds provided an alert to watch for the hawk.
My husband hurriedly tried to get a photo of the hawk with his iPhone…….
Meet my favorite northeast birder - Bob Duchesne who challenged the Merlin Bird ID app
This year is my second year using the Merlin app to help identify birds using photos and/or sounds. More information about the Merlin app here.
I discovered Bob Duchesne (based out of the state of Maine) last year when we were planning a trip to the Canadian maritimes and looking for birding hotspots. His YouTube channel is extensive, entertaining and down-to-earth.
In the video below, Bob challenges the Merlin Bird ID app to a contest - very interesting, informative and entertaining.
Do any of you use the Merlin app?
What I have in common with Peonies
Just last week, my peonies finally started to bloom. It has been a cold and rainy May. Watching my peonies bloom every Spring is kinda like a ritual for me. Their blooms usually only last less than a week before they start to droop (me?). My peonies seem to come back every year - stronger and stronger.
From what I understand, peonies are tough and often survive in not-so-ideal locations. Mmmm….sounds like someone who takes on wild adventures……I guess I may have a few things in common with a peony.
Recommended reading on Substack
These are just a few of the many writers and photographers I follow on Substack.
Brenda Uekert with Nature Listening Points - I highly recommend her online (via Zoom) Nature Writing Workshop which I completed last month. The workshop was hands on - with guided sensory exercises to help me “awaken” my creative writing skills and move me from my scattered notes to compelling narratives. She is offering the same workshop again this month - June 2025. More here on how to sign up.
Jesse McEntee with Next Adventure writes that there is an adventurer within all of us and we need the outdoors to honor his truth. So true Jesse.
The Slow Sip with Cathy Jacob. Every time I have a hurried day, I “run” to read Cathy Jacob. She slows me down or makes me think twice about doing too much in one day. Her recent post is The gnarly problem of trying to do too much. Read it now before you start your day.
Do you hurry through each day? I often wonder why I do.
Laura Lollar with Laura’s Leadership Letters writes about the 6 Lessons Learned on a Wild River Ride as she experienced quite an adventure on Colorado’s Arkansas River. She never expected a rescue to be a part of her family reunion.
Outdoors Book Club with Jill Hinton Wolfe writes about more than just books. She recently discussed how to be more present outdoor in her post Spending Time in Nature Won’t Make Your Happier - Unless You Do This One Thing
Craig Lewis with Running Tales shares stories of everyday people who do amazing things. I highly recommend reading his recent compelling story about Joshua Ross whose running journey started with a cancer diagnosis - The world is full of things harder than running - but it can help you beat them.
Keith’s RWK Newsletter: Read about Keith’s adventures on an epic trip to Finland: Jyväskylä and Points Northward is just one post he wrote about his Finland adventure.
Field Notes with Erik Hogan continues to inspire me with his nature writing about his adventures hiking and shooting beautiful images of the woods, the mountains and water.
Jon Norris, a professional photographer, discovers and shares various landscapes at Explore Landscapes. I enjoyed his recent photo archive from Chamonix-Mont-Blanc - one of my favorite destinations for both summer and winter adventures.
What I am reading now in print (when I am not writing)
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy: a novel about an expedition to Greenland to follow the last Arctic terns in the world on what may be their final migration to Antarctica. More information here on WorldCat.
Grand Canyon Rim to Rim History by Dave Crockett - A 130-year history of rim-to-rim travel in the Grand Canyon tracing the evolution of the trails, bridges, Phantom Ranch, and the water pipeline through firsthand accounts and historical narratives. A fascinating history of how life was below the rim. More information here on WorldCat.
The lost words: a spell book by Robert Macfarlane (Author) and Jackie Morris (Illustrator). A book inspired by the decision to remove 50 ‘nature’ words from the Oxford Junior Dictionary - such as conker, bluebell, kingfisher and acorn. More information here on WorldCat.
A Walk in the Park - A True Story, Kevin Fedarko - Kevin writes about his 750 mile journey through the Grand Canyon with Pete McBride, a photographer. With minimal trip preparation, he documents their harrowing expedition, extreme physical demands, bad weather, and many mishaps. More information here on WorldCat.
Outdoors with Jenn is always free, but if I wrote something that resonates with you, I am happy to accept a cup of coffee. Thank you for reading.
Hope to see you soon outdoors.
That porch is so inviting! What a great place to birdwatch and enjoy the fresh air!
Wow, your porch seems so peaceful and fun Jenn! I wish my backyard was like this lol. Instead of birds, I get a lot of cats in my backyard because we have neighbors in our neighborhood that always feed the stray cats. Plus, there’s an outdoor house cat that always walks around too lol.💪❤️💪❤️