November 2, 2026
Where: the neighborhood
When: 12:45 pm
Bird Species: house sparrow, northern cardinal, northern mockingbird, house finch, Carolina chickadee, tufted titmouse, ruby-crowned kinglet, mourning dove, white-breasted nuthatch
Things I Thought About:
- Trying to maintain some cautious optimism about the election tomorrow, which is helped by knowing I get to be late to the office tomorrow, which means I can walk to my polling place, which means I will get some sunlight, and perhaps some birds.
- My polling place is the elementary school I have mentioned often, right at the end of the road. Part of my regular morning route, that regular morning route which I have not done regularly since February. I simply must get my shit together.
- I have been stalling on making my all my annual wellness visit appointments, and I did it all today and now I have four medical appointments in the three days before Thanksgiving. That'll teach me.
- A character in the novel I am listening to just referenced something his grandmother used to say, that he was “chasing a worm with a bell on its tail.” What does this mean. What can this possibly mean.
- was his grandmother a kitty cat
BOTD: house finch. This is a handsome bird. Too handsome? Those colors are really quite, um, what's the word I'm looking for...engorged?
A truly attractive bird. The coloring is much less aggressive when he hopped out to the more exposed branches.
I just really liked that features photo up top, flooded with dark color and hiding in the shadows. It's rare that I get a shot where you can say that pink runs up his back, too.
This is quite a common bird in my neighborhood, but this particular guy was uncommonly striking. Birds can be like that, they can really surprise you.
