August 12, 2026

Where: Eakin Park ballfield and the Eakin Community Garden

When: 6:48 pm

Bird Species: eastern bluebird, house finch, American robin, northern cardinal, Carolina wren, northern goddamn flicker, American goldfinch, great-crested flycatcher, house sparrow, gray catbird

Things I Thought About:

• Every time I come here now I expect to see many bluebirds standing on the outfield fence. There are seven today, and also a lady finch.

• There is a giant mulberry tree up at the community garden. In the fall you can see deer stop by almost every evening near sunset. I almost never go up to the community garden for reason one, one time a gardener was very cranky at me, and reason two, it is a very steep uphill walk from the ballfields.
• I am both so lazy never want to climb that hill, and not lazy enough to drive up there. But tonight I walk, because for once the humidity seems to be less than nine thousand percent.

• There are a lot of birds up here! And they are skittish, which is to be expected. There are some beautiful garden plots up here, and I imagine the birds are pretty aggressively driven away when the gardeners are around.
• The grass up here is so healthy and green, and it looks so soft.
• Sometimes when I think about how many summers I spent dancing to string bands, outside in the heat, beer in one hand, lit cigarette in the other, bare feet in the grass, it feels like something I dreamed. I love fiddles and close harmonies, and sweating out a beer before it can make you buzzed, and watching the sun go down and the lightning bugs come out, so much, and I never get that anymore.
• Except for the sweat. I get that plenty.
• I have no memory of ever putting on insect repellant in my 20s.
• I wish I wanted to take my shoes off and literally touch this grass, but I am already getting annihilated by bugs, and it seems like I mostly want to wallow.
• August, am I right.

BOTD: American goldfinch. I was so tickled to see this beautiful streak of yellow fly by and then land on the sunflower. He was so bright and beautiful. What a star.

I was taking these photos through the fence, so many of them came out very obscured. I walked around the fenceline, and when I got closer to where these sunflowers were about a dozen birds shied off in a cloud, very close to me. It was dope.

In addition to the goldfinch there were sparrows and a wren, and finches and cardinals, and a great-crested flycatcher of all things. I didn't realize until now that flycatchers ate fruit. I thought they only ate bugs.