November 13, 2026
Where: just around the complex
When: 7:25 am
Bird Species: house sparrow, European starling, American robin. Heard but not seen: blue jay, Carolina wren
Things I Thought About:
- Oh, huh, my weather app said “Dense Fog” but this is, in fact, a dense fog. I will not be able to see a bird.
- I can’t remember who the contestant was, but on an episode of WILTY some woman was describing how her water broke while she was twerking at her baby shower. She said the emergency doctor took one look and said they had to go on and induce labor because “you split the bag,” a phrase that I will never forget, it is is so perfectly evocative and descriptive and confounding and British.
- It is also a phrase that comes to mind when, as today, my Achilles is extremely inflamed and painful. I burst the bursa sac once, I don’t want to burst it again, I don’t want to split the bag.
- This tree is the only action in town, and photos will be extremely mediocre with this zero visibility foglight. Why should today be different?
BOTD: European starling. They were flocking in this berry tree on the property with a group of American robins, both very chattery and active. And do you know what? I don't hate these photos at all. I mean, I do need to learn how to compensate on days where the light is so poor the auto-focus doesn't dial in, but I like how the background is all white-gray in the fog, and how the dull green and brown of the tree and their striking pattern really pops against it.
