backyard birds

July 19, 2026

Sara Kate Wilkinson

Sara Kate Wilkinson

— 5 min read
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July 19, 2026
Bird of the Day: great egret, although to be honest he was just okay

Where: Huntley Meadows Park

When: 11:25 am

Bird Species: northern flicker, blue-gray gnatcatcher, eastern bluebird, Canada goose, mallard, great blue heron, red-winged blackbird, turkey vulture (flyover), eastern wood pewee, great egret, pileated woodpecker, red-bellied woodpecker. Heard but seen: Carolina chickadee, American goldfinch, indigo bunting, common yellowthroat, who are really pushing their luck with me

Things I Thought About:

  • Sharks. Check it out: there is an animal who, with one single action, can turn one human body into three parts. Now what if I told you it was a fish.
  • Humans are the softest animal out there. Get me an exoskeleton, imo.
  • I get anxious when my loved ones go to the beach.
  • More swamp blossoms are open today, more popcorn kernels popping in the pan. Soon this whole place will be covered up, and the pink hibiscus will come in too. Can't wait.
Swamp hibiscus starting to pop off.
  • I intended to get up and get out here early like every Sunday, but I stayed up mindlessly watching YouTube videos until three and when I woke up at 9:41 am I was almost four hours behind schedule.
  • One thing I will not be doing today is seeing a 3-hour movie, I'll tell you that. The more people talk about how loud it is, the more I might pass until I can see it from home. Definitely turning into my mom.
  • I spot a green tree frog who has settled deep into the reeds in a very cute way. It's incredible that I saw him at all. I point him out to a kid, who gets very excited and then points him out to his siblings and grown-up. If you ever want to feel good about yourself and the world, point some cool wildlife out to a kid and watch their face in the moment they locate it.
The bird of the day is tiny frog.
  • There's a mallard mama out there just watching her juveniles as they swim many yards away. She must not have heard about the goose.
  • A man who was being very mean to me a while back (not at all an unusual thing to happen whenever I'm trying it again on the apps in this city of grubby little climbers) suggested that when I do something like point out a tiny frog to someone, I'm showing off, I'm only doing it because it makes ME feel good, I'm doing it for me more than for the kid, to which I say, "Yes, and? Bitch?"
  • Of course I am, it feels great to have secret frog knowledge, and also that person got to see a tiny frog, and now THEY have secret frog knowledge. What the fuck are you talking about, psycho?
It is 1:00 pm, and the birds, who are much smarter than we are, are all being quite still. One of the very few other birders out right now says "No offense to any of us, but what an idiotic time of day to be on this boardwalk." I cannot but agree.
  • I have no respect for it. I have no respect for people who act like they have unlocked some secret knowledge of the universe by taking the most miserable, selfish, tight-lipped, adversarial view of every human interaction. These are the same people who will not hesitate to tell you that rounding up at the checkout is the way corporations pass their charitable giving on to the consumer. I believe this has been roundly debunked, but even if so, yes, and? Bitch? The Ronald McDonald house still gets the 71 cents, doesn't it? What did you win by withholding it?
  • Plus, you're damn straight. Doing a kindness when the opportunity presents itself makes me feel good, so I try to do it a lot. I'm a lovely woman. Fucking deal with it, prick.
  • There is an osprey doing nothing and a blue heron doing nothing. The only activity on the boardwalk is a pileated woodpecker actively fleeing from me while I try to take a photo.
heh-ha-ha-HAH-ha
  • Oh, the woods trail is lovely right now, cool green and dappled, a nice dim break in the hottest part of the day.
  • I waffle for a long time on this bird, which I think could be an eastern phoebe or an eastern wood pewee. Both flycatchers, both famous for sitting still and upright, both with pretty arm bars and darker over lighter covering. The sound is what I usually go by; the phoebe really does sound like "Feeeee-bee" and the pewee really does sound like "peee uh wee," but this guy, perversely, is saying nothing. All the birds today are giving me nothing.
I eventually settle with some confidence on eastern wood pewee, simply because I've seen many more phoebes, and this one is just different from those. This is thing about birding, the more you do it, the more confident you get. Sometimes knowing what something isn't is as good as knowing what something is.
  • Maybe I'll pivot to frogs and bugs.
The bird of the day is giant summer bugs.

BOTD: Great egret. It was pretty dead out there today; my fault entirely for arriving at about the time I'd be leaving in the winter. This is the only bird that really captured my attention today, except for the common yellowthroat, who captured my attention by singing from what must have been six fucking feet in front of me all over this park without ever letting me lay eyes on him

This guy was fishing, and failing for the most part, but he's such a striking bird. It's like their necks have a joint in it that herons don't have; it's a real crook shape and when they swallow fish you can really see it make the sharp turn in there.

I also like his long dinosaur toes.

The worst day I ever spent at Huntley was still the highlight of my week, so this was a fine time even without a lot of action. The only objection is that I was behind schedule all day and now it's almost 10:00 pm and I still haven't showered off the sunscreen and bug spray.

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