July 30, 2026

Where: Smithsonian Castle Gardens

When: 5:25 pm

Bird Species: rock pigeon, gray catbird, northern mockingbird, American robin, mourning dove, northern cardinal, house finch

Things I Thought About:

• It has been a minute since I did downtown D.C. birds, and I kind of hoped I'd find somewhere new and convenient, but I think it's the castle for me again. It's truly the only place I've found on foot that has more than sparrows and pigeons.
• I do like putting on sneakers with a dress before and after work, Tess McGill forever, but what I don't like is forgetting the Chub Rub, knowing I'd be walking around quite a bit in a dress after work.
• And my Garmin just said " CRITICALLY LOW; POWERING DOWN" which, okay, bitch?? Who isn't?
• You don't see ME powering down. You WISH.
• I better get credit for this walk.
• It smells so good back here. There's one long alley of a potted garden that is full of huge and beautiful, fragrant exotics: ylang-ylang, Mexican boulder, plumeria, Angel trumpet, Bismarck plant. Needless to say, I am identifying these plants by reading the signs in the soil.
• I wish I could post a scent the way I post up photos. As far as grounding sensory exercises go, this is an amazing place for smell.
• I think that bird is too long and slender to be a purple finch, and I'm going to list it as a house finch, but he sure is plum-colored and pretty in this cloudy light.

• All the birds are congregating around two huge fruiting trees with berries in it. There's a robin nest in there with quite a large young robin on it. He looks hours away from fledging. His parent has brought him food twice, but I'll be shocked if he's still on the nest this weekend. He looks ready to move.

• The space behind the castle here is a reliable place for the easiest of all rewarding human interactions, "Do you want a photo with all of you in it?" So many nice backdrops and nice families. I have taken three photos for people and pointed out the robins' nest twice.
• Nice backdrops for the birds, too. Look at that body confident mockingbird up on that lamppost, with the red of the castle behind him.

• Who is making such a chirpy little ruckus?
• Oh. Oh, its his kid.
• And it is already a little shit.

BOTD: Northern mockingbird, parent and child.

The mockingbirds absolutely run this place. This has been true every time I have come to bird here. There was quite a lot of mockingbird on mourning dove scrapping around the fences and fixtures here, and continual jockeying for position in the fruiting trees between mockers and catbirds and robins.

Then I saw this adult, posted up on a lantern fixture. He stayed there for quite a long time, and as I was watching I became aware of a relentless chirping, from behind and below. He flew off for a second and returned to the ground below the lantern with a flower, and a fledgling came out from under the bushes, absolutely screaming that chirp at him. It was so funny. He was hilariously demanding, such an attitude in such a round little body.

In addition to letting me watch the feeding, they both posed for some very nice shots, especially the youngster. I love the mottled color on his breast, and of course, both he and the baby robin still have that loose, floppy mouth.

They were very fun to watch, together and apart. It's a beautiful time, when a parent teaches a child how to be a screaming maniac and full-time jerk.