Baby Birds

June 24, 2026

Sara Kate Wilkinson

Sara Kate Wilkinson

— 4 min read
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June 24, 2026
Bird of the Day: tree swallows, swallowing.

Where: Eakin Park at Tobin Road

When: 6:30 pm

Bird Species: house sparrow, eastern bluebird, American goldfinch, eastern kingbird, tree swallow, downy woodpecker, northern cardinal

Things I Thought About:

  • Kima Greggs from The Wire is producing a re-watch podcast, and, okay, fine, get your bag, your industry is crumbling, but goddamn, there are so many re-watch podcasts,
  • It especially wild for Mandy Moore to be doing a re-watch podcast, for a show that ended four years ago.
  • Everyone at my new job sends and responds to emails like hostile witnesses on the stand.
  • I did not know how good I had it, I could have coasted at my last job, easy breezy, until the day I died, and I blew up my own spot because I felt underappreciated and was bored. Men, take heed: this is how you become Divorced with a capital D.
  • Bumper crop of birds on the athletic field backstops today. This park is very good for that.
Eastern kingbird, a bird I did not expect to see on the ball field.
  • People who are routinely victimized by bad processes never want to talk about process, has anyone else noticed this.
  • I do not wish to be thinking about work at this time. I wish to be thinking about this sweet goldfinch, and about the time I saw a great blue heron in the tiny pond here.
This little guy looks shiny and plasticine, like a happy meal toy.
  • Earlier today I turned on Netflix and one of the homepage categories read "Cancers Will Cry If They Want To," and the way I just stared at it for several seconds, trying to diagram the sentence in my mind.
  • The "Because You Watched Bridgerton" first selection was Rizzoli & Isles, so I don't even know what we're doing here. I do know that my personal Netflix recommendations, just like on every other algorithm-based service that is offered up to me, are borderline humiliating.
  • There are some sandhill cranes at Bombay Hook right now, but I suspect the greenhead flies will be more than I want to deal with. I've never seen a sandhill crane, though. Maybe I'll try for it on the next long weekend, see if they're still around.
  • I did find out today that I can use the fitness center at my building. That helps.
  • Also helping? These birds tonight. It's been very pleasant, if humid, and a colorful selection, which has been lacking a bit lately.
Another of the bleacher creatures.

BOTD: tree swallow, two adults, two babies.

What a treat this was. If you ever want to lower your blood pressure and lose time, stumble across an occupied birdbox at sundown and watch for a while.

I heard the noises first, and couldn't identify them, and walked around for a comical, embarrassing length of time before it occurred to me to go look in the birdbox. I have come to this park for eight years plus and never seen the birdbox in use. What a lucky break. Two crying babies, meaning an adult would be by soon.

Remember when I mentioned how baby and fledgling birds all look like they have on white joker smiles? Perfect illustration here. You can see in some of the other photos how wide those mouths can open.

I watched the parents come by and feed them at least six times. I could have watched them for hours more.

This baby was pushy. I bet the other one in the box is much smaller. He was not sharing well.
I tried to take a shot from the side, but the wire cage is obscuring. If you zoom in, you can see how fully the adult is in the baby's mouth.

I wish I could have captured the adult. They are a bird that never sits still, even when visiting and dropping off food, they were only there for a moment, all a blur.

I really loved this. And I really needed this! Once again delighted by the natural rhythms of the world, and the reminder of how Microsoft Teams is not a real thing. Ended the day on a bright and charmed note.

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