March 15, 2026

Where: the brushy hedgerow

When: 12:08pm

Bird Species: American robin, blue jay, northern mockingbird, northern cardinal, fish crow, house sparrow, house finch, mourning dove

Things I Thought About:

• Well, I seem to have forgotten my phone at home. This is a relationship with my phone I am deliberately trying to cultivate, but I’m not going to be able to remember what I was thinking about without my bird list in order.
• I’m honestly not thinking about too much today, anyway. It’s Sunday morning, so I am thinking, as I often do, about how I should go to church more often. When even is Easter this year? It feels like Ash Wednesday was a while ago.
• Those two blue jays are chasing each other all over the place. This is blue jay marriage, and it seems exhausting.

• Cardinals and house finches also pairing off today. Everyone is getting laid but me.
• Now that’s a weirdly colored cardinal, but I don’t think it’s Pinky. So maybe the pale gray and white is just normal spring molt. 

• Finding a bunch of unusually pale cardinals would be a helluva way to find out they’re dumping chemical waste in the ravine by my house.
• Seven species in the brushy hedgerow today. I don’t think I’m going to do any more, although I probably should, since it’s meant to rain all day tomorrow.
• Physical inventory: low back sore, left hip sore, achilles tight but I know how to fixt that immediately from the physical therapy I haven’t been doing for months, low-key toothache for about two and half years, but I’m very accustomed to this. Not great, kid.
• I guess I should do something about all this. A thought for another day, though.
• Actual guilt from “not wanting to go look for ducks on the weekend” is a new guilt, and I need another one of those like a hole in the head.
• Oh, right, the Oscars are tonight. I haven't seen as much as I'd like, but I think the musical number in Sinners is as close to a genuinely transportive experience at the movies that I have ever felt, so Coogler for Director. I never care about Best Picture, it's such a dumb award.

BOTD: house finch. There were about a million birds in the hedgerow today, but of all of them the finches had the prettiest song going, and, unusually, I was able to pick out exactly the one that was doing the singing. There were quite a few others in the hedge, including a lot of couples, but this guy stayed up against the trunk of the tree, singing away. I also like how he's a little more orange-red that the pinker ones I usually see. And the male and female colors and streaks complement each other so perfectly. Attractive birds.

You know that I'm not much of a photographer, but I am starting to get interested in all the budding trees. There are a lot of magnolias in my complex and when they bloom I'd love to see some birds in there against all that pink. A jay lighted in one today, but he left before I could catch up.