On Tuesday morning, February 6th, I was walking towards the lake about 20 minutes before sunrise. The moon was rising over the trees with Venus and I was trying (unsuccessfully) to take a decent photo of it with my phone. That’s how I know the exact time I saw them. At 7:11 am, a huge flock of robins began streaming out from the trees, passing in front of the moon, and heading off over the lake. It was an astonishing flock of robins. I watched. I attempted to catch some photos of them in front of the moon, but it was too dark. I turned on the video on the camera:
(Note: If you’re watching on a small device, you may not be able to see them very well in the first minute where it’s zoomed out, so skip ahead to about 1 minute and you can see the more zoomed in view.)
I was astonished to note that after six minutes they were still streaming out at a rate of hundreds and hundreds per minute. I kept watching. They kept coming! More robins than I have ever seen. I knew there was a winter roost at the lake, but I’ve only seen a few hundred at a time. At one point I thought it had stopped, but that lasted less than a minute before the stream of robins started again. All told they streamed past me at the rate you see in the video for nineteen minutes! 19!! Thousands of robins!
Each day this week I’ve watched them, though I’ve never seen quite as many as I did on Tuesday. Perhaps they scatter in different directions most of the time? As I pondered the new lunar year, I pondered the robins that were suddenly filling my world. The element of wood in Chinese medicine is associated with the season of spring. Robins are also associated with the season of spring.
I like the idea of understanding the “wood dragon” through the robin, a bird I think I know well but may perhaps surprise me as I pay more attention? I noted that the dragon is the only member of the Chinese zodiac that really flies (apologies to the rooster). It makes sense to me to understand this element through birds. The dragon is also the only mythical creature in the lineup, which makes me wonder what magic this year might be up to?
Looking through my qigong notes, the element of wood is also associated with the liver, the nervous system, and the words resiliency, generosity, kindness, and imagination. When out of balance, it is associated with frustration, anger, and agitation. Wood is represented by trees and is an element of growth, action and movement.
I have been pondering the words resiliency and generosity the last few weeks. The changes I am making to improve my diet, fitness, and mental health are all ways to build resiliency. I am learning new things, like how to cook and how to row indoors. I am building strength and also working on a healthier nervous system. The energy of the element of wood seems to have already taken hold and I hope it will be supportive throughout the year.
With generosity, I have been pondering the places it is easy for me to be generous, especially with my attention, my presence, and my compassion. I have been noticing with curiosity the places where I struggle with these three things. It’s surprising to pay attention and wonder why compassion is sometimes lacking or why I can be really present in one situation and not in another. This will be another good exploration for the year.
I don’t know much about dragons, having never seen one. A decade ago when I was drawing, I drew a lot of dragons. My dragons were more “puff the magic dragon” than fearsome creatures. I remember writing the word “misunderstood” more than once. My feeling sense is that dragons are creatures to be embraced and worked with rather than feared and attacked. Here is one of my favorite dragon drawings from my archive which probably conveys my feelings about dragons:
There’s never any knowing how a year will play out. The last year of the wood dragon was apparently 60 years ago, 1964. That year the Civil Rights Act was signed, and we could certainly use that kind of energy now.
Meanwhile, we are having what I’ve termed “false spring”. I suspect winter isn’t quite done with us yet, but you never know. Everything is mud and gray but at least the sun is shining and we’ve had a couple stupendous sunrises! The little birds are not visiting the trees and bushes near me very much, they must have other sources of sustenance this time of year. So we will be back to ducks and ice this week - I still have special guests you haven’t seen and plenty of ice photos to share!
Thank you all for being here! I appreciate all of you and love hearing from you in the comments. Extra special thanks for all my paid subscribers and financial supporters, you make it easier for me to see how I can keep doing this. We are *almost* to 100 paid subscribers - will this be the week? If you’ve been thinking about it, just remember that even one month ($5) makes a difference!
Wow! Both the robins and your thoughts on the Year of the Dragon, wood, resilience and generosity. Thank you for the inspiration.
Walking in the half-dark before dawn the day before yesterday, I heard a big gust of wind from behind me, but when I looked up, it was a flock of about a hundred piñon jays going by low. The noise I thought was a gust of wind was the sound of their wings. As they passed, they began to call in their neighing voices, which amplified the whooshing of their wings. Not thousands and thousands of robins, but still a spiritual experience!
I've never seen flocks of robins. In the UK they are a small garden bird and you only tend to see one of them. They're pretty fearless - they will often hop around very close if I'm out doing some gardening.