June 6, 2026

Where: Hidden Oaks Nature Center

When: 11:15 am

Bird Species: tufted titmouse, Carolina chickadee, white-breasted nuthatch, northern cardinal, American crow, downy woodpecker, blue jay

Things I Thought About:

• I was feeling recovered and got up and went to the farmer's market with my sister and ran two errands and now I'm sweating and exhausted. I would like to get in my vitamin D time and be done with all my outside errands by noon. I think I can do it. The house is close, and there are always birds here.
• There's one now. Titmice can be so big. I haven't seen one in a while, and I think I forgot how long their tails can get when they're fully mature.

• I am thinking some pretty grim stuff about late-stage capitalism, AI, and the removal of humans from retail checkout procedures. All this sparked from a Saturday morning trip to Five Below.
• On the other hand, birthday month, free gift at ULTA. I picked the retinol, naturally.
• Wait, what? I've been putting it under my pillow.

• I think there is something about my aura on a woods trail that seems kid-friendly, because this is maybe the fourth or fifth time this year that a mom has said, "You should ask her," and allowed their very small toddler to ask what I'm doing/looking at/taking a picture of. They have all been boys, now that I think about it. Boys of all ages are interested in large cameras, I think.
• I said, "Do you hear that bird?" (loud and close and distinctive) and he said "uh-huh" and I said, "It's going to be high in a tree and it's going to be red, and when I see it, I'm going to take a picture of it." Then six or eight more steps down the path, around a bend, and there it was, dead center above the trail. The kid's mouth fully dropped open, and his mom said "Wow!" and he said, "It's good." This is the kind of thing that can turn your whole day around. This can make your whole month.

• Oh boy, oh BOY. I went into the nature center itself, which I don't usually do while I'm here, but I needed the A/C for a minute. I mentioned to one of the volunteers that I have sponsored Waldo, the common snapping turtle, for three years and never laid eyes on him. He is named Waldo because no one can ever find him in his tank. It wasn't a complaint, just an observation, but she said, "I'm animal care, I'm usually only here on Wednesdays, give me three minutes and I'll feed him." It is not normal for a middle-aged woman to be this excited.
• All the little kids are sitting down, waiting for Waldo to swim out. The animal care volunteer has a plastic spatula. She opens the top window of his tank, lets the spatula just touch the water, and he swims out instantly. This feels like a celebrity sighting. Waldo snaps at the spatula every time she lowers it. All the kids are losing it, which is good cover for me; I am also losing it.

• Waldo is only five years old, he is volleyball sized, kind of little, and he snaps like he could take three fingers off you. I love him.
• I have brought joy to children today? Fewer opportunities for this as I age. Although I did buy my niece some Dr. Pepper socks from Five Below. Dr. Pepper is having a moment with the middle-school set.
• Getting back into my car, I think how the only birds on camera today are the black and white and gray ones (titmouse, woodpecker, chickadee.) In that moment I look over and see a blue jay. Maybe I'm starting to get my mojo back.

BOTD: a downy woodpecker, although I took quite a lot of time making up my mind. In the moment of that featured photo, I thought it was a hairy woodpecker, because the bill is so long, but the head shape isn't oval enough, I don't think. I think the bill just looks long because of how she's bent.

Any time you put a photo of a black and white woodpecker into Merlin it gives you both downy and hairy as options. Very helpful! There were at least three back around the bird boxes. It would be pretty funny if an expert determined that there was a downy and a hairy woodpecker back there, but after scrolling the gallery I do think these were all downys.

The photos aren't especially inspiring, but the experience was. It was nice and dark and shady back there, and they were being very deliberate and considered with how they picked at the bark, and selected which tree showed the most promise.

Almost all the birds I saw today were eating bugs out of trees, which makes sense because when I got home, I found my legs had been absolutely massacred by mosquitoes and other biting bastard bugs. No ticks, though, because of my stupid little bandana.