June 15, 2026

Where: the neighborhood

When: 8:00 am

Bird Species: house sparrow, northern cardinal, European starling, mourning dove, house finch, American robin, gray catbird, blue jay

Things I Thought About:

• Oh, man, this is perfect June weather. Breezy and in the 60s and low humidity. A miracle.
• An unexpected wrinkle in summer birding, if you do a lot of your birding by ear like I do, is the sudden presence of growling air-conditioner outtake units outside every home and especially public buildings. I can hear the elementary school A/C motors across the street.
• I love hydrangeas, but only when they are blue. It’s a plant whose color depends on the acidity of the soil in which it grows. You can plant the exact same seeds in two different beds and get vastly different blooms. [narrows eyes at botany] This is a metaphor.
• I was startled, née ambushed, by a 15-year old photo on Facebook this morning. This is my own fault for being on Facebook in 2026, but I did immediately spiral into “look how pretty and healthy I looked.”
• Now, this is such a lie. 15 years ago I was smoking more than a pack of cigarettes a day and routinely drinking two bottles of white wine every night. I would always follow a hippie to a second location. I never went to the doctor or, famously, to the dentist.
• How easy it is to accept the patriarchy’s premise, because of course what I mean when I say “look how pretty and healthy” is “look how thin.”
• This correct, self-actualized take is complicated by the fact that I do actually feel like shit most days. I would feel tons better if I took off 60 pounds. That is not a misogynist construct, that is the word I’m getting from my joints.
• I think I can reasonably expect to live at least 22 more years. I really should do something about this. It is pretty much irrelevant to get 11,000 steps a day looking at birds if your pulse rate never gets above 85.
• I’m sorry, Doctor, my healthy outdoor habit is simply too chill.

BOTD: house finch. This very strange tree always has house finches and house sparrows in it, because it is about ten feet away from a bird feeder.

This is some sort of decorative tree that is only bare branches like this in the winter, but grows weird spiraling leaves in the spring, But only on like 3/4 of the branches? It is in the neighboring condo complex front yard, and I find it hideous. But it’s a reliable place to find a house finch, a nice bit of colot im your day.