backyard birds

May 30, 2026

Sara Kate Wilkinson

Sara Kate Wilkinson

— 2 min read
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May 30, 2026
Bird of the Day: a plain old house sparrow in the crepe myrtle, because I feel like crepe

Where: around the complex

When: 4:00 pm

Bird Species: American robin, European starling, house sparrow, mourning dove, gray catbird, northern flicker, house finch, American crow

Things I Thought About:

  • All the Binax COVID kits have to be like 5 years old now, right?
  • I'm definitely sick, anyway. I need everybody to think, "Oh you poor baby" and kind of feel sorry for me.
  • Especially since I had to drive into downtown DC this morning to pick up the goddamn FedEx.
  • Is that a flicker up there? That is very out of the ordinary.
In the center here is a northern flicker at the very tippy top of a very tall tree. In my experience up until now, they don't really do this? I've never seen one perch up like this before, not pecking at that bare branch but just looking around. I almost missed him, but that splash of yellow under tail feathers gave him away. See a flicker, post a flicker.
  • This weather is beautiful, and breezy and maybe 70 degrees. I have had lovely outdoor time today, but not "walk around a park" outdoor time, "sit on your balcony and drink tea and read and doze" outdoor time.
  • There are a lot of little charcoal grills set up throughout our complex, and many of them are in use today. They all seem to be doing a bad job. The wind, I think. I do like the smell of charcoal in the air, though.
  • Hey, at least I can smell. Maybe I just have a summer cold? Which also sucks shit.

BOTD: house sparrow. A near-0 day for the bird walk, and definitely a gimme bird, but they did look attractive against all those pods and the blue sky. The one in the photo up top is the female, and I do think they are pretty. I like their darker eyelines. and their plumage on the back has a lot of visual interest. The males are less attractive to me but historically are more cooperative. Or maybe just pushier?

They're a nuisance bird, but they're all right.

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