Tweets;
Virtually all of the Shelter-in-Place orders in the US (and we don't have one in WA yet, with the exception of Everett) allow walks and hikes. The problem is, I believe, that sometimes places are so crowded that it becomes difficult to walk 6 ft from other folks. Today, though, I was out at 9 a.m. to Juanita Bay Park in Kirkland, and there was plenty of space for all. As the morning progressed, it became considerably more crowded. Still, people remained a respectful distance without apparent difficulty. This is in contrast to Spencer Island yesterday, when I had to literally jump off the trail for a couple who continued to walk side-by-side. I hope we can continue to bird in "wide-open spaces," maybe even meeting another person who drives separately and walks 6 ft away!

Wishing us all the ability to stay healthy while continuing to sample nature,
Penny Koyama, Bothell

From: Josh Adams
Sent: Sunday, March 22, 2020 6:46 PM
To: Tweeters
Subject: [Tweeters] Please go birding

Hello Tweets,
I'll put in a vote for the opposite direction. At this point we don't know how long we may be in this situation or what the world will look like when things final return back to "normal", so I'd encourage you all to prioritize your own mental health, get outside, and enjoy our beautiful spring.


Obviously, you'll want to know your own risk situation, but with a little common sense I think nearly everyone reading this can probably enjoy lots of birding. Many of Washington's best birding locations are very sparsely used even on weekend afternoons, and if you can get out first thing on a weekend morning you might have them to yourself. Use it as an excuse to check out some of our less birded and more remote areas.


Josh Adams
Cathcart, WA



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
_______________________________________________
Tweeters mailing list
Tweeters at u.washington.edu
http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/pipermail/tweeters/attachments/20200322/1a271203/attachment.html>