September 21, 2026
Where: Eakin Community Park
When: 5:35 pm
Bird Species: northern cardinal, gray catbird
Things I Thought About:
- It rained very heavily up until about ten minutes ago. Now it's cool and breezy and very gray. Great showers of raindrops cascade off the trees every time the wind rolls through. It feels great out.
- I can't see a goddamn thing through the viewfinder though.
- I also have to pee, as always, which in this park means I have to use a port-a-john. The thing about using a port-a-john after a heavy rain means that there is going to be water everywhere. They leak in a dozen places.
- I am not precious about port-a-johns, but when everything is wet and there is a quarter inch of standing water from the various leaks, it is a uniquely harrowing experience. For one thing, you absolutely have to hover, an act to which I am strongly opposed in public bathrooms as a general matter of policy. And when you hover with a camera and a pair of binos hanging from straps around your neck, you have to hover, pee, and also make sure you're not dragging any gear through the puddles.
- And of course, the usual nightmare vision of car keys or phone falling out of a pocket and straight down the hole. This is why you'll always hear me blog about peeing in the woods, which I would be doing today except it is even wetter and grosser outside than in the port-a-john. Muddy, too.
- They move the port-a-johns out of the park shortly before Thanksgiving, which seems exactly backward to me. The port-a-johns should be available in the winter, where there is not enough cover to pee in the woods.
- This is going to be the most edifying newsletter yet.
BOTD: northern cardinal. I saw two tonight, the only splash of color in all the early dark green and gray and gloom, but they didn't stop long enough for a photo. This cardinal was posted up very prettily and cooperatively near the beginning of the boardwalk on Saturday morning. I thought he looked nice, especially as part of the larger canvas.
