When my husband told me he wanted to go “bird watching” with the kids on Father’s Day I thought he was crazy. But what I thought sounded like a lot of work (I mean on Mother’s Day I just wanted to sleep in) actually turned out to be a really fun afternoon. Here’s what we did in case you want to bird watch too!
We pumped up our tires and headed out for a bike ride. Our destination . . . the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Irvine. Depending on where you are starting off from, you might be able to avoid a lot of streets (and therefore cars) by riding thru the Back Bay and/or along the San Diego River Creek Trail. You can also drive there and park your car, but as it is a protected area, be sure to leave your dog at home.
Once we arrived at our destination, we grabbed a map and headed out towards the ponds, passing by the Audubon House and the butterfly garden (which looked to be under some renovation) where we paused to check our “wingspan.”
Once we reached the first pond, we took out our phone. I’m sure that’s not what you thought I was going to say since we were out in nature, but we needed it for the app. The Merlin Bird ID app is a super kid-friendly app that asks a few simple questions and helps you identify the bird you’ve seen. Even though sometimes the birds were a little far away to know exactly if we were correct on their colors, etc, I have to admit, I kind of got into it. The kids did too.
We also spotted squirrels, a cute rabbit, and watched an ant carry off a crumb from our sandwich. It’s the little things, right?
