sparrows

October 15, 2026

Sara Kate Wilkinson

Sara Kate Wilkinson

— 2 min read
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October 15, 2026
Bird of the Day: song sparrow. The kind of shot that really reminds you there are 365 days in a year. I colored in his red eyeball and now he looks silly in a way I like.

Where: my complex

When: 6:24 pm

Bird Species: song sparrow, mourning dove Heard but not seen: northern cardinal, gray catbird, house sparrow, American robin

Things I Thought About:

  • My sister. It is her birthday. She has read every word I’ve ever written, starting with my 4th grade diary up to and including 290 editions of a daily bird newsletter in 2026. She’s an amazing mom to a dreadful goth teenager. I moved up here to be closer to them and that was the right call. We had duck birria quesadillas for lunch. I love her something awful.
  • When I watch Scream now I get so upset for Casey Becker's parents. That was very not cool.
  • My downstairs neighbors are doing their usual good work for Halloween. The cat man is new. 
Somehow, I have missed these being placed every year. It's always a fun surprise.
  • I am on PTO today and I have worked 2 hours. I blame myself; there is no one else. 
  • PTO on a Thursday but not the Friday was just a tremendous failure on my part. I have some regrets. 

BOTD: song sparrow, but in my heart, no.

Today I had birthday lunch with my sister, and the cutest little house sparrow was hopping around the restaurant patio the whole time, and while we did some light shopping we saw all of his friends. I said to myself, “Well, there won’t be any trouble finding a photo of a house sparrow later.” Them it rained, and then it was very dark at 5;45pm, and there wasn’t a goddamn bird to be found.

Enjoy these two terrible photos of a song sparrow, an excellent sparrow. Although they are my second favorite of all the local sparrows, today, alas, he’s kind of second best.

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