2020: The year I reconnected with nature

Linz Lim
3 min readJan 6, 2021

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Back in 1990, when Singapore had a jungle in Nee Soon

Thirty years ago, my parents moved us from downtown Singapore up North — to live across the jungle. We crossed the roads with Monitor Lizards (thinking they ’re dinosaurs) and watched the transformation of palm-sized pearlescent green caterpillars in awe. It took us a while to learn that they are Atlas Moths — one of the largest moth in the world!

Over time, I would forget about nature and her many wonders until stumbling upon the Grenada Tree Anole in December 2019. It was a life-changing trip. The wildlife of Grenada got me interested in citizen science — a term that is all new to me. I started uploading my observations onto the iNaturalist app, and the whole process of getting a confirmation (of what I saw) brought back fond memories of my childhood.

I personalize a calendar every year to remind us of fun times

2020 has been rough for everyone, but it is in this year that I reconnected with nature.

American Crow versus Bald Eagle

I spotted my first bald eagle over our rooftop, simply because I have developed a habit of watching the American Crows around the neighborhood. I can recognize their call for defense when a threat is near. Many of my hawk sightings are results of following their caws.

Red-shouldered Hawk
Neighborhood caws

Looking back at my 2020 on iNaturalist, the absence between March to October marked our uncertainty during the pandemic — Jon and I got busy adjusting to “the new normal” which included the paranoia of human contact. All thanks to the Great Horned Owl, we ventured out into nature again.

The last few months have been pretty exciting, learning new things every day. We met the most amazing birders, online, who taught us how to differentiate a Downy and Hairy Woodpecker, recognize a Glaucous Gull, and arrive at the deduction of a passing falcon in the sky.

I look forward to the many new things we would discover in 2021.

Originally published at http://documenting.home.blog on January 6, 2021.

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