Common Birds 38 - Goldfinches

August 2, 2023

Today, I am birdwatching in the parking lot behind a Dunkin’ Donuts.

My son is born, and I am on leave. I no longer trace my work’s parking lot path down the creek, past the stream, to the pond, and finally to the river. I have to snatch little moments of birdwatching wherever I happen to be, like the parking lot behind a Dunkin.

Why am I sitting behind a Dunkin, a place I notoriously and vocally don’t care for (despite my current residence in the very heart of the Dunkin empire)? My car has a leak in one of the tires, so I took it to the shop. Having only one car, I have to wait. This is unideal with a newborn. I haven’t had as much sleep as I would like, there’s no coffee in the office of the shop… and in Massachusetts you’re never more than a mile away from a Dunkin. So I walked a little over a half mile, and shortly had an Americano in my hands.

It’s beautiful today. Sunny, clear, and a cool 65 degrees. Far too beautiful to languish inside of a Dunkin. So, here I am, sitting on the raised sidewalk that wraps around Dunkin and a Vietnamese restaurant, drinking my coffee, enjoying the sunshine, and watching goldfinches dash across the sky. They like to flash their wings three or four times in a row to build up height, swoop down, then flash their wings again. There are some sunflowers planted next to the Vietnamese place, and the goldfinches like to visit them, though they’re nervous about me sitting here. An American crow stands croaking on a streetlight above the drive through. A cricket keeps a steady beat in the grass.

As people drive past to order, I wildly love misusing this space. The parking lot behind a Dunkin is not usually a space for savoring coffee, birds, or existence.