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How Watching Bald Eagles Build a Nest Prepared Me for the Pandemic How Watching Bald Eagles Build a Nest Prepared Me for the Pandemic
(about 1 month later)
Last May a hummingbird landed in a tree right outside my kitchen window, wiped her beak against a branch and flew off. Moments later she returned to dab at the same spot. My wife and I happened to be standing nearby, and for several minutes we watched the scene repeat itself. The hummingbird was building herself a nest, one lichen chip and strand of spider silk at a time. By day’s end the nest was complete; in a few weeks we saw two little beaks pointing up from the nest’s fuzzy lip. The babies got bigger, then learned to fly and then the nest was empty. It clung there for months until rainfall finally dislodged it.Last May a hummingbird landed in a tree right outside my kitchen window, wiped her beak against a branch and flew off. Moments later she returned to dab at the same spot. My wife and I happened to be standing nearby, and for several minutes we watched the scene repeat itself. The hummingbird was building herself a nest, one lichen chip and strand of spider silk at a time. By day’s end the nest was complete; in a few weeks we saw two little beaks pointing up from the nest’s fuzzy lip. The babies got bigger, then learned to fly and then the nest was empty. It clung there for months until rainfall finally dislodged it.
At the start of this year I began spying on the inhabitants of a different nest, in Big Bear Lake, some 450 miles south of my home in Oakland, Calif. This nest sits near the top of a 120-foot-tall Jeffrey pine, and it is home to two bald eagles known as Jackie and Shadow, who, in January, were busy taking turns incubating two eggs. I could see them thanks to a camera installed by a local nature nonprofit. Watching these birds from such an impossible vantage point, at all hours, I felt like something between a god and a stalker. Shadow, the male, would faithfully return from errand runs, carrying a stick to add to the nest’s gnarled sinew or a fish, ripped from the lake below. Many times a day some potential intruder, usually a squirrel or crow, would get too close, and the eagles would thwack their wings ferociously, scaring it off. I took to leaving the feed open in a browser tab with the sound on, sporadic clamor alerting me to activity.At the start of this year I began spying on the inhabitants of a different nest, in Big Bear Lake, some 450 miles south of my home in Oakland, Calif. This nest sits near the top of a 120-foot-tall Jeffrey pine, and it is home to two bald eagles known as Jackie and Shadow, who, in January, were busy taking turns incubating two eggs. I could see them thanks to a camera installed by a local nature nonprofit. Watching these birds from such an impossible vantage point, at all hours, I felt like something between a god and a stalker. Shadow, the male, would faithfully return from errand runs, carrying a stick to add to the nest’s gnarled sinew or a fish, ripped from the lake below. Many times a day some potential intruder, usually a squirrel or crow, would get too close, and the eagles would thwack their wings ferociously, scaring it off. I took to leaving the feed open in a browser tab with the sound on, sporadic clamor alerting me to activity.
Between 900 and 1,200 people typically watched along with me at any given time, sharing an experience of the internet that felt happily anachronistic: The stream manipulated us into nothing besides watching — no clicking, no purchasing, no game playing, no arguing. In a similar contravention of prevailing online modes, there was a chat set to “slow mode,” throttling comments to one per person per minute. Conversation was frequently illuminating and occasionally moving, even as external concerns pierced the bubble. On Jan. 26, when Kobe Bryant died 100-odd miles due west of the nest, the eagle watchers mourned him and, in more than one instance, compared him to a majestic bird of prey. A few days later two posters commiserated over their recently deceased cats.Between 900 and 1,200 people typically watched along with me at any given time, sharing an experience of the internet that felt happily anachronistic: The stream manipulated us into nothing besides watching — no clicking, no purchasing, no game playing, no arguing. In a similar contravention of prevailing online modes, there was a chat set to “slow mode,” throttling comments to one per person per minute. Conversation was frequently illuminating and occasionally moving, even as external concerns pierced the bubble. On Jan. 26, when Kobe Bryant died 100-odd miles due west of the nest, the eagle watchers mourned him and, in more than one instance, compared him to a majestic bird of prey. A few days later two posters commiserated over their recently deceased cats.
Themes of mortality weren’t incidental to the nest-cam stream; they were deeply ingrained in it. Eaglets die easily. In 2018, one born in this very nest succumbed during cold rainfalls after six weeks of life. Even for adults, peril remains omnipresent. At Big Bear, overnight temperatures regularly drop below freezing. Menaces proliferate, natural and otherwise. When car engines revved from a not-distant-enough road, or commuter jets groaned overhead, it reminded us how these particular birds were, like so much of the natural world, under constant threat. Around sundown every day, an infrared light clicked on, making Jackie visible as she slept on the eggs. During a work trip, I nodded off in an unfamiliar hotel room with my laptop open to Jackie dozing beside me — it was a weird, digital-era tableau of parasocial companionship that, when I think about it now, feels grimly prefatory.Themes of mortality weren’t incidental to the nest-cam stream; they were deeply ingrained in it. Eaglets die easily. In 2018, one born in this very nest succumbed during cold rainfalls after six weeks of life. Even for adults, peril remains omnipresent. At Big Bear, overnight temperatures regularly drop below freezing. Menaces proliferate, natural and otherwise. When car engines revved from a not-distant-enough road, or commuter jets groaned overhead, it reminded us how these particular birds were, like so much of the natural world, under constant threat. Around sundown every day, an infrared light clicked on, making Jackie visible as she slept on the eggs. During a work trip, I nodded off in an unfamiliar hotel room with my laptop open to Jackie dozing beside me — it was a weird, digital-era tableau of parasocial companionship that, when I think about it now, feels grimly prefatory.
Bald-eagle eggs usually hatch in about 35 days, but in late February we passed Day 40, at which point it was very unlikely these eggs would hatch at all. Perhaps they’d never been fertilized. Perhaps it was too cold. This hit the chat hard. When Jackie vocalized now, it was difficult not to project heartbreak onto her. One person wrote: “Poor baby. It sounds like it’s crying. It’s probably wondering why the eggs haven’t hatched.” In a few weeks Jackie and Shadow gave up. During one of their absences a lone raven entered the frame, cracking open and nibbling from the eggs.Bald-eagle eggs usually hatch in about 35 days, but in late February we passed Day 40, at which point it was very unlikely these eggs would hatch at all. Perhaps they’d never been fertilized. Perhaps it was too cold. This hit the chat hard. When Jackie vocalized now, it was difficult not to project heartbreak onto her. One person wrote: “Poor baby. It sounds like it’s crying. It’s probably wondering why the eggs haven’t hatched.” In a few weeks Jackie and Shadow gave up. During one of their absences a lone raven entered the frame, cracking open and nibbling from the eggs.
A month later, California was entering its second week of a shelter-in-place mandate because of the coronavirus. My wife, sitting a few feet away, sent links one day to other animal cams she found — one trained on wild ospreys, another on golden-retriever puppies. A friend texted to say she was “watching the penguins at Monterey aquarium and checking in on Cincinnati Zoo daily videos” of, among other things, hippos. Amid a pandemic forcing many of us to conduct much more of our lives in digitally mediated isolation, these streams offered something that, say, binge watching the kitsch horrors of “Tiger King” couldn’t: a sense of the persistence of an outside world.A month later, California was entering its second week of a shelter-in-place mandate because of the coronavirus. My wife, sitting a few feet away, sent links one day to other animal cams she found — one trained on wild ospreys, another on golden-retriever puppies. A friend texted to say she was “watching the penguins at Monterey aquarium and checking in on Cincinnati Zoo daily videos” of, among other things, hippos. Amid a pandemic forcing many of us to conduct much more of our lives in digitally mediated isolation, these streams offered something that, say, binge watching the kitsch horrors of “Tiger King” couldn’t: a sense of the persistence of an outside world.
Updated June 22, 2020
A commentary published this month on the website of the British Journal of Sports Medicine points out that covering your face during exercise “comes with issues of potential breathing restriction and discomfort” and requires “balancing benefits versus possible adverse events.” Masks do alter exercise, says Cedric X. Bryant, the president and chief science officer of the American Council on Exercise, a nonprofit organization that funds exercise research and certifies fitness professionals. “In my personal experience,” he says, “heart rates are higher at the same relative intensity when you wear a mask.” Some people also could experience lightheadedness during familiar workouts while masked, says Len Kravitz, a professor of exercise science at the University of New Mexico.
The steroid, dexamethasone, is the first treatment shown to reduce mortality in severely ill patients, according to scientists in Britain. The drug appears to reduce inflammation caused by the immune system, protecting the tissues. In the study, dexamethasone reduced deaths of patients on ventilators by one-third, and deaths of patients on oxygen by one-fifth.
The coronavirus emergency relief package gives many American workers paid leave if they need to take time off because of the virus. It gives qualified workers two weeks of paid sick leave if they are ill, quarantined or seeking diagnosis or preventive care for coronavirus, or if they are caring for sick family members. It gives 12 weeks of paid leave to people caring for children whose schools are closed or whose child care provider is unavailable because of the coronavirus. It is the first time the United States has had widespread federally mandated paid leave, and includes people who don’t typically get such benefits, like part-time and gig economy workers. But the measure excludes at least half of private-sector workers, including those at the country’s largest employers, and gives small employers significant leeway to deny leave.
So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “very rare,” but she later walked back that statement.
Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.
A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study.
The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.
States are reopening bit by bit. This means that more public spaces are available for use and more and more businesses are being allowed to open again. The federal government is largely leaving the decision up to states, and some state leaders are leaving the decision up to local authorities. Even if you aren’t being told to stay at home, it’s still a good idea to limit trips outside and your interaction with other people.
Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.
If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)
If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.
If you’re sick and you think you’ve been exposed to the new coronavirus, the C.D.C. recommends that you call your healthcare provider and explain your symptoms and fears. They will decide if you need to be tested. Keep in mind that there’s a chance — because of a lack of testing kits or because you’re asymptomatic, for instance — you won’t be able to get tested.
This was reassuring but also poignant, and at times painful. Nest cams offer no opportunity for interaction, but they do set the stage for imaginative and empathic leaps. Recently, I checked in on the Big Bear bald-eagle feed and found the nest looking desolate. The eggs had been scavenged — by ravens, by jays, by squirrels — and Jackie finally carried off one of them, who knows where. Even so, about 1,000 people were watching. Some joked about the absent eagles practicing “social distancing” and others wondered what the birds made of the decreased human activity in the park. A moderator noted that, despite the unhatched eggs, “eagles tend to grow attached to their territory.” Jackie and Shadow were just out of frame — possibly, the moderators suggested, mating.This was reassuring but also poignant, and at times painful. Nest cams offer no opportunity for interaction, but they do set the stage for imaginative and empathic leaps. Recently, I checked in on the Big Bear bald-eagle feed and found the nest looking desolate. The eggs had been scavenged — by ravens, by jays, by squirrels — and Jackie finally carried off one of them, who knows where. Even so, about 1,000 people were watching. Some joked about the absent eagles practicing “social distancing” and others wondered what the birds made of the decreased human activity in the park. A moderator noted that, despite the unhatched eggs, “eagles tend to grow attached to their territory.” Jackie and Shadow were just out of frame — possibly, the moderators suggested, mating.
For long stretches of the day the eagle nest sits empty, and yet a thousand or so people still watch. A few weeks ago, meanwhile, in a ficus beside our backyard gate in Oakland, a hummingbird built a new nest. Her babies have since hatched, and when we roll our trash bins to the curb, we do our best to keep the rumble to a minimum, trying not to disturb them.For long stretches of the day the eagle nest sits empty, and yet a thousand or so people still watch. A few weeks ago, meanwhile, in a ficus beside our backyard gate in Oakland, a hummingbird built a new nest. Her babies have since hatched, and when we roll our trash bins to the curb, we do our best to keep the rumble to a minimum, trying not to disturb them.