26, calm and clear, clearer than it’s been all year. At 6:42 the junkyard raven is already honking. Seven minutes later into the typically noisy Monday dawn, a Song Sparrow sings, a full and robust song, the first time this has happened in 2023. Also for the first time, starlings are back before 7 AM. Otherwise, freeway noise is so loud today that the first-wave locals can’t be heard properly. Except the raven, of course.
Judging from the timing, that's the very same bald eagle that flew over my head at the top of the field. It was heading for the gap.