July 4, 2026

Where: Cross County Trail at Eakin (Tobin Road)

When: 10:45 am

Bird Species: northern cardinal, eastern bluebird, eastern phoebe, Acadian flycatcher, Carolina chickadee

Things I Thought About:

• Surely no one noticed that I sent the newsletter yesterday without the bird list. I blame heat prostration.
• I woke up in my feelings about America today, with which I will not bore a reader, but suffice to say that the story of America, from the founding through today, has been the slow extension of the white, male, property-owning rights in the Declaration to everyone who calls it home, and to see that steady, hard-fought progress rolled backwards in my lifetime is...heartbreaking. It is enraging and frightening, to be sure, but also, it is breaking my heart. People don't give that feeling enough room, I don't think.
• In any event, time to get a bird, go buy some potato salad and popsicles, and retreat. I intended to go to Hidden Oaks again, since it's nearby and shady, but I have to go in the other direction to see what the Neighborwolf is wearing for the Fourth.
• It is still mild enough to spend a few minutes doing something I haven't done in quite some time, which is stop and feed the turtles. This is one of my favorite things. I hope turtles don't think I don't love them anymore just because I love birds now, too.

• I have just come up with yet another great idea for a fun rom-com meet cute. File that one in the Novels & Scripts I'll Never Write drawer.
• The one idea for a novel I've had that really interests me and makes me want to take it further requires knowing a lot about the American Revolution, early 18th property law, black powder demolition, speleology, and early mine engineering. It's...not moving quickly.
• Also, I don't really know what it's about.
• People are playing tennis. Insane. It is noon and my car clock say 102°.
• I am excited to go home and huddle up in the A/C for the rest of day and, later tonight, listen to all the dogs in the neighborhood go fucking nuts.

BOTD: Acadian flycatcher. This bird is bit of "the one who got away" for me, which is interesting, because it isn't a nemesis, the way the indigo bunting is, although the stats are about the same: I hear one almost every time I go out and actually see it maybe every five times. He likes to stay overhead, and his coloring is pretty drab, except for his pretty wing bars. Always in the shade, too; they like to sit in a big leafy tree and wait. I just like trying to find this guy better than trying to find a bunting.

I have mentioned how they have the distinctive single HWEEP of a call, with quite a lot of space between them, so they can be a fun choice. You can use that time between calls to bring yourself a lot closer to where you think they are, or you can lose them entirely if they move. Today he was staying put in the same tree, and it took me about seven HWEEPS, increasingly loud and close, until I managed to plant myself on the trail right in front of him. Very gratifying.

I also love his name. He is very common around these parts, but a woman and her son stopped to ask what I had a found, and saying "Acadian flycatcher" got a very impressed reaction. It's a very "yep, that's a bird that birders would know about" kind of name.

A nice treat for bird of the day, especially on a day when Heard but Not Seen was coming out strong.