backyard birds

October 16, 2026

Sara Kate Wilkinson

Sara Kate Wilkinson

— 3 min read
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October 16, 2026
Bird of the Day: northern cardinal, golden bird in the golden hour

Where: the neighborhood

When: 5:25 pm

Bird Species: house sparrow, house finch, downy woodpecker, gray catbird, mourning dove, European starling, northern cardinal

Things I Thought About:

  • Some private stuff, of a pleasant variety, for once. 
  • Around noon, the tree outside my window was an absolute hive of bird activity, I could have taken a photo of five different species at a distance of about 30 feet. Now that the workday is done, none of these birds are getting anywhere near me. I think the signs are clear: no one should WFH on WFH days.
I liked this little soft-focus shot of a house finch buried deep in a tree.
  • Every time I throw on Scream 2 (which is often enough, that series is spooky season movie Muzak for me) I am startled to remember Timothy Olyphant is in it. What a cast in that one.
  • I saw the first low temperature that starts with a 3 in the weather app today. I’m excited for a high that starts with a 5. Odd numbers for an odd lady.
  • There is some very golden light going on here, and some truly alarming black clouds gathering in the distance. There is alleged to be a thunderstorm later, and then tomorrow much cooler. I want it, bad. My favorite weather for birding is sunny and 48 degrees. My favorite weather for drinking coffee on my east-facing balcony, too.
  • Wednesday, I finished the day with 11,209 steps on the step counter, the first time I broke 8K since the Achilles flare up. It doesn’t seem to have made things appreciably worse.
  • My COA annual meeting last night was the worst run meeting I've ever attended in my life. I say this as a person who both attends and runs a lot meetings. Every COA meeting is 45 minutes on laundry, 10 on the way kids behave, and a vote that should take five minutes but inexplicably takes an hour.
  • Whoa. That escalated quickly.
It is 6:43 pm. It is shocking how quickly it went from a golden sunset to too dark to read outside this evening. Very spooky and sexy. I had been bitching about the humid breeze but had to go inside for a sweater not ten minutes later. This was wild, actually.
  • I’m definitely getting out to Huntley this weekend. I truly think 27 days is the longest I’ve gone between visits since 2024.
  • Maybe there will be some ducks.

BOTD: northern cardinal. I was following this married couple for some time this evening. In addition to their well-known song, they also make distinctive and sometimes near constant clicks and chirps. The male was inexplicably being coy, hiding in the foliage that runs most of the length of a single block. I was extremely content to just follow along and hope they showed themselves. Finally, the lady came out, high up top in the last of the sunlight, chirping for him.

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