Gary Snyder – March 14, 2022 Iyengar All Levels

From a rugged Zen Buddhist Mountain Man. Birdsong is one of the ways I tell time in the morning, in addition to changing light. If the light still feels screwed up to you, try the birds. Happy Pi day.

How to Know Birds

The place you're in

The time of year

How they move and where in the meadows, brush, forest,

rocks, reeds, are they hanging out

alone or in a group or little groups?

Size, speed, sorts of flight

Quirks. Tail flicks, wing-shakes, bobbing —

Can you see what they're eating?

Calls and songs?

Finally, if you get a chance, can you see their colors,

details of plumage — lines, dots, bars

That will tell you the details you need to come up with a name

but

You already know this bird.