November 5, 2026
Where: the neighborhood
When: 8:35 am
Bird Species: house sparrow, American robin, blue jay, Cooper's hawk, European starling, white-throated sparrow, northern cardinal, mourning dove, white-breasted nuthatch
Things I Thought About:
- A triple miss last night on Jeopardy! when all three players incorrectly pronounced “orecchiette,” and I am here to tell you that I also would not have pronounced orecchiette correctly.
- Then again, after the second miss, I would not have tried.
- Robins are back at it again. This is cute. I want this every morning.
- And I feel like I can get this every morning, in fact. I have arrived at the DC office near or after 10AM every morning since the time change.
- My beloved white-throated sparrows have been back for the winter for a few weeks now, but they aren't being very photogenic.
- I overspent severely in October (sweaters), but I have decided to get out of town this weekend anyway. Fuck it, we ball.
- I love looking at the ocean in the fall.
BOTD: Northern cardinal, in what has become the hottest show in town, the curly maple tree at the neighboring complex. This one is a nice pink shade, a lot of variety. The bright crimson ones I see more often out at Huntley.
Nice of him to give me a rear view, like I'm a red-carpet paparazzo trying to see the back of a gown. Most obliging.
A good bird, about to become extremely popular. Did you know British mail carriers used to wear bright red uniforms, and that's how cardinals came to be associated with Christmas, and specifically, Christmas cards? We all know what season it's getting to be.
