January 7, 2026

Where: the neighborhood (it will be the same 4200-step sidewalk route every time I post that)

When: out the door at 6:53am, incredibly

Bird Species: house sparrow, northern cardinal, American crow, American robin, a perfectly symmetrical oblong wasp nest that was maliciously pretending to be a barred owl, mourning dove, white-throated sparrow, Canada goose (flyover), Cooper's hawk, blue jay, northern mockingbird

Things I Thought About:

• It is, very faintly, but definitely and appreciably staying lighter for longer, but I wish my only opportunity to grab a photo on weekdays wasn't in the early-ish morning. Not on my personal account, I like to be up early, but for the birds. It’s remarkable how long it took me to realize that dragging myself out of bed at 6:00am to get to a park to see a bird at 6:30 was two hours too early in the winter. Most people who say they "wake up with the birds" mean they wake up before the birds.
• This is how I almost missed the short-eared owl last month. I was convinced I had to be there early because they are nocturnal, so surely they’d be going to bed around sunrise. I did not make the connection that they’d still wait around for the food to wake up.
• It is so hard to get the protein grams recommended for a higher protein diet. Much harder than I had been anticipating. I have worked out 1 (one) time with weights so far and have consumed more baked chicken breast in a week than I have in the previous six. Surely this will pay off when I can do 3 (three) pushups on my birthday in June. 
• I had three bluejays in the same tree and was trying to focus up when a mockingbird ran them off. I will never blame a bird for acting like a bird, but I kind of hope he trips over a root.
• Hey, that Cooper's hawk from yesterday is hanging around! Different tree, different neighbor's yard. I'm going to try to take a better picture so people can appreciate his crazy eye.

• Oh, no. When I get home the county is trimming the trees right across the road from my house, and I mean skinning them back to the trunk.

• I assume this is to avoid lawsuits with the on-street parking, but I’m SO bummed. There were pileated woodpeckers over there in October! This is a real blow to my ambition to see a bird every day in 2026, I must say. I like having a zero-effort option.

BOTD: Blue jay. What can I say about jays? Everyone has already seen one. They are bullies, but not as bad as mockers. And, in all fairness, though they are a tough capture, they are an absolutely stunning bird. They're corvids, so in addition to loving peanuts in their shell, they eat meat. Last year I took some decent photos of one grabbing and eating a snake. It was dope.