June 8, 2026

Where: around the complex

When: 5:25 pm

Bird Species: house sparrow, mourning dove, fish crow, European starling, song sparrow, gray catbird, northern cardinal

Things I Thought About:

• shits himself to death in white golf shorts in front of 100 cameras I hope Some pretty redacted things, like every other day.
• Books. I mentioned idly a few days ago that I remembered how to read this year, and it occurs to me that I have read dozens of books, in a conscious effort to cut way back on screentime. I have resolved to do this every year for maybe six years, and it finally happened.
• I have read a couple of The Thursday Murder Club books, Elizabeth George's newest Lynley novel, an unhealthy number of smutty Regency era romantic comedies, a bunch of Alix E. Harrow, The Midnight Library, a book where slightly over the halfway mark the mystery narrator was revealed to be not only a dog but the ghost of a dog and which almost made me quit reading again, The Splendid and the Vile, a couple of Benjamin Stevenson novels that were an absolute blast, and a bunch of Agatha Christie one-off novels that I had somehow missed. Reading is good.
• I need to hang some bookshelves, though.
• It is quite recently that I learned that the part of a bird's tail feathers that cover the base up close to his butt are called undertail coverts. I read a description of a catbird that called theirs "cinnamon-colored," which seems accurate.

• Agatha Christie's Crooked House reads like it could have been written in 1983 or so. A very 'modern' thriller, in the way books of that vintage were. This is not derogatory, but it's not what I go to Dame Agatha for.
• Her husband was a very famous archeologist, and she had a good line about how the older she got, the more interesting he found her. He was also a famous philanderer, though, I believe. I too might have faked my own disappearance if I was married to Max Mallowan.
• That episode of Doctor Who probably the worst one with Tennant and Donna Noble?
• The Man in the Brown Suit is terrific, though. And Tommy and Tuppence are a dream.
• I think I will skip the walk and go finish my book on the balcony.

BOTD: Song sparrow. A favorite little bird.

As my dear friend and Guest Birder Maggie Hendricks remarked on my instagram not long ago, "I love that song sparrow's pics always show them singing." Always! If you see this bird, it is singing, or it's about to sing.

It's kind of interesting that this is the bird with "song" in it's name, because you much more likely to hear its call than its song. That call is constant, and incredibly consistent They always make the same call, and they do it the same way, the same pitch, every time. Three quick high notes, a brrrrr, and then a long ringing trill like a ringtone. It's almost electric sounding. You can set your watch by it. You hear those starting notes, and you know what's coming next, every time.

They sing all day around here, and when they sound especially close, I'll step out and try to catch one in tree right by my balcony, as seen above. But the reason he is bird of the day today is entirely personal, because beyond my own tree, I was also able to spot this one singing, five balconies away.

This is why we spend almost $500 dollars on eyeglasses, after insurance. WHAT a return on investment, and immediately. When my contacts get here (additional $$$) I'm going to be able to track a falcon on a cloudy day. Can't wait.