By Catherine Walsh, Senior Writer
To celebrate the 2025 Season of Creation (September 1-October 4) and the 10th anniversary of Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment, we are sharing stories about ongoing efforts to care for the Earth. Here we highlight how Sister Libby Fernandez draws on her passion for birdwatching and nature to bring Mercy to people living on the streets of Sacramento, California.
Unhoused people and wild birds. Their photos are everywhere on Sister Libby Fernandez’s Facebook page, accompanied by her upbeat comments. Here’s a man in a blue hat smiling shyly. “Even though it’s rough on the streets, Charles always gives a smile of care and hope.” There’s a large, reddish-colored bird perched on a branch. “Nothing like seeing a beautiful red shoulder hawk.”
Keep scrolling and you’ll see Jerry and his dog enjoying the sun, Quintan rolling up his sleeping bag, Linda and Colleen celebrating their new apartment after years of homelessness. You will encounter a cluster of killdeer birds who, according to Sister Libby, “are having a serious conversation,” as well as “barn swallows with personalities” and a white-tailed kite in midflight “with her catch of the day.”
Sister Libby can’t imagine her life without her human or feathered friends.
She is founder and executive director of Mercy Pedalers, a ministry whose hundreds of volunteers since 2017 have used bicycles and oversized tricycles to bring coffee, snacks and personal hygiene items to people living on the streets of Sacramento, California.
She also is an avid birder whose love of wild winged creatures sustains her work in a city where more than 10,000 people are homeless. Her Facebook cover photo shows her pouring hot coffee for someone in a sweatshirt. Behind her is a large tricycle with coffee urns on the back.
“It can be very intense on the streets. People’s stories are so hard,” she reflects. “Birding allows me just to be, to listen and be present. It enables me to go back to the streets reenergized and recharged.”
More than 20 years of working directly with people experiencing homelessness on Sacramento’s streets and over a decade of birding have taught her that human beings and the natural world are interdependent, continues Sister Libby, who previously served as executive director of Sacramento Loaves & Fishes, the city’s largest homeless service provider.
“As a Mercy Pedaler my daily mission is to ‘welcome’ each person I meet with dignity and respect. As a birder who cares about our fragile planet my mission is to bear witness to the need to care for the natural world.”
Sister Libby came to birding through her love of the outdoors. A U.S. Air Force veteran who once led cadets in outdoor adventure activities like whitewater rafting, backpacking, spelunking, skiing and scuba diving, she continued to immerse herself in nature after she entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1990. She started a modified outdoor adventure group for sisters while also continuing her own rigorous activities.
But as she aged, she found herself longing for more centering experiences of creation. So about 15 years ago she started taking her annual retreat in the wilderness, setting up her tent in a forest or a field or by a lake or mountain stream. “I call it my wilderness silent retreat. It’s a way for me to draw closer to God.”
Being alone made her notice things, especially birds. “I remember a hummingbird whose vibrating wings were moving so fast, while I was in this moment of stillness and presence. It captivated me.”
She began to rise before dawn on Saturdays to go birdwatching with Mercy Associate Dorothy West, who serves on the board of Sacramento Loaves & Fishes. She discovered that bigger birds like crows and vultures awakened before smaller birds such as sparrows, bluebirds and warblers. She learned to distinguish a mating call from one signaling danger or delight, and an American bald eagle from a kingfisher or a golden eagle. She rejoiced each spring as birds built their nests and cared for their young.
“I’m lucky because Sacramento is a birding paradise,” with three waterways that attract migratory birds journeying from Alaska to Patagonia along the Pacific Flyway.
Nature reveals other wonders as well: At sunset one recent evening, she gazed up at a highway bridge that is home to 400,000 bats and watched these flying mammals take off in “one big, long black rope,” she says.
An avid photographer who has long taken photos of her friends on the streets with their permission, it was only natural that she photograph birds as well. She saved up for a professional camera and lens needed to get good images from a distance. Favorite photos that move or inspire her are posted to social media, where they have attracted a following.
“In this era when social media can be so negative, I feel good when someone I don’t know in the grocery store line tells me how much they like my photos.” Her hope is that people see – truly see – her friends on the street and in the air in new, lifegiving ways, and realize we are all interconnected and loved by God.
