Adams Morgan, January 18

An ongoing gallery of pigeon pictures.

The Adams Morgan Bogeyman Succeeded: Unsurprisingly, ANC 2B voted against the liquor license application for a restaurant in the old post office building on 14th and T streets NW. Borderstan reports that a large mix of supporters and opponents turned out to the meeting, and that "the now famous fliers distributed on Tuesday — warning that T Street was going to become like Adams Morgan — were the work of the partner of the ANC Commissioner for Single Member District 2B09, Ramon Estrada. Roughly half the attendees left the meeting room after the presentation." One ANC 2B  commissioner comments on the post, writing "As one of the Commissioners that voted to support the protest, I appreciate this fair write up of the meeting last night. My vote was not because I object to this project; I think it is a great opportunity and will ultimately be successful. Rather, because of the location next to an apartment building. These residents deserve an opportunity to have issues such as noise and parking address. The VA process will allow this. The application actually does a great job adhering to our new public space guidelines, so that will likely not be controversial."

If You Can't Run With the Big Dogs: Penn Quarter Living writes about the challenges of small gun owners in D.C. (who go elsewhere—to Virginia—to play with their toys): "We know we’re in the minority as a shooter with our one complaint about these ranges, but here it goes:  as a person shooting a 22 rifle it can be a little distracting to stand next to people firing 50 caliber BMG’s, shotguns, and other high powered firearms.  We’re not suggesting these popular guns shouldn’t be allowed, but do wish there were a better way of assigning booths by caliber of firearm, rather than the seemingly random way they do now.  You can come out of the ranges feeling shell shocked after standing next to a shooter packing the same firepower as your average Call of Duty character." One commenter continues the gun chat, writing "Anything higher and a 22 is just friggin loud. Regarding carry across lines, as I remember, your purpose has to be for legit reasons like practice or sport. And logically it has to be unloaded, but if you took a DC approved firearms class this would have been covered. Other places don’t have the same hangups as DC does about guns, so the MD friends who introduced us to shooting, while we were vacationing in VA, had us drive over to WV to a free range. That’s about 3 states there. Anyway, when we got to the open air range in WV there was a guy there with a banana clipped gun and a pistol. Whenever he shot off that AK-47 looking thing I ducked, even though I was behind him. Scary, friggin, loud. Then I was given ear protection and all was well."

Performing for Parking: In response to a Greater Greater Washington post about performance parking and Circulator fares proposed by Councilmember Tommy Wells, his constituents in ANC 6A are highly supportive—and have a few more suggestions to add. On the ANC's email list, one member writes, "I would also like to see something done to residents that have 2, 3 and 4 vehicles and trying to park them all on the same one-way street taking parking spaces from other residents. You can only drive 1 vehicle at a time so they shouldn't be allowed to park all of them on their street. Also, something needs to be done with the folks who doesn't have a residential parking sticker or a visitor parking pass and on the 1500 Block of Queen Street NE, more people are parking and leaving their vehicles because they know they are not getting a ticket." Another adds, "The 2001 H Street Strategic Neighborhood Action Plan group was the first in the city to suggest graduated rates for parking permit fees. Since the spaces are worth a couple thousand dollars/year, it seems reasonable to charge more.  Toronto charges from $18-$50/month + tax. I've been writing about this for 5-6 years. This is one of the many subsidies of automobile use that most motor vehicle owners take for granted and believe is an entitlement—and then turn around and complain about 'subsidies' to transit and other forms of mobility."

No Longer Angry Birds: One member of the Brookland email list inquires, "Over the past week we have found several dead birds in our yard. Is anyone else encountering an excessive amount of dead birds?" They're not alone: Another adds, "I have recently seen a few dead birds around the neighborhood lately. Hopefully 5 years from now we won't find out that the air and water that we (along with the birds) breathe and drink is actually poisonous and toxic, not sure if you remember last year when hundreds of dead birds were found out West somewhere. The issue certainly deserves some research."

Cleveland Park Problems: "We live in McLean Gardens and we are having such a difficult time with out 900 Mhz baby monitor. We get a sporadic, static popping noise that forces us to turn it off in the middle of the night. We have confirmed that no other devices in our house run at this frequency and we've turned off our cell phones, but we can not get a single night pop-free! We also bought another monitor and have the same problem, so it's not a device defect. Has anyone else encountered this problem? Does anyone have a suggestion?" inquires one member of the Cleveland Park email list. At this time, no one has offered any suggestions, though perhaps it's appropriate to blame the excessive rumbling of trucks in nearby Tenleytown.

Parakeets of Palisades: A thread on the Palisades email list, entitled "parakeet found after fleeing airplane noise!" details the story of one small bird who alighted to the east. A Craigslist posting brought the pet home—"He made it all the way to Columbia Heights and landed on a friendly shoulder. Our posting on craigslist took care of the rest. He's tired and hungry but otherwise fine. Thanks for your help!" writes, presumably, the bird's owner—but one neighborhood resident is on a mission to eradicate the overwhelming airplane noise (it's probably a quality-of-life issue for humans, too): "And if the sensitive parakeet was fleeing aircraft noise in the Palisades; relief may be on the way. Stay tuned for developments."

We Won't Go II: JDLand has the most comprehensive review to date of Near Southeast's fight to stay in Ward 6 following a meeting of residents. Councilmember Tommy Wells was present with a list of things the neighborhood could do to lobby for its continued existence in Ward 6, which included: "...Arguments against a move to Ward 8 move should not center on 'personalities.' That concept was not really expanded upon but, if you've read the comments on my post last week on this issue, you might infer it to mean 'don't rant about how you don't want Marion Barry as your councilmember.' Wells also said to not mention not being able to park elsewhere in Ward 6 as a reason for opposition, which did seem to come up an awful lot at last week's hearings, to the dismay of many in the DC Twitterverse. 'This is about how you view your community.'" Commenters have a very hard time staying away from those "personalities," though. Writes one, "I know its an argument that Wells and Garber told us to shy away from – but I find it extremely suspect that the man who says he wants to 'stop gentrification' and "keep the city black" is attempting to take over one of the fastest-gentrifying, fastest-whitening precincts in the District... and choke it in its crib." Stay tuned for updates from last night's formal meeting on redistricting.

Mount Vernon Archives: A reader of The Triangle digs up an undated "Year 2000 Neighborhood Map originally created by Jonathan Passonneau and Partners" for the blog. A commenter points out some differences since the map was created, observing "interesting! A few of the changes I note are: 1. There’s no office building at the NW corner of 7th and I, thus exposing the tech world plaza. 2. The building between 5th and 6th across from where CityVista is now is no more. 3. Former street grid where the convention center is now… and so on and so forth. very cool!" The reader who initially submitted the map adds, "Yeah, it was like finding a little treasure as I was cleaning out my office. It’s not just our neighborhood either – the entire NOMA, Shaw and NE SE areas are comprised of just empty blocks. Quite stark."

For the Birds, III: Last week in Brookland, it was hummingbirds. This week, the neighborhood email list is chattering about robins—and, more specifically, how to kindly relocate them, without displacing them entirely. (Perhaps a metaphor for D.C.'s demographic growing pains can be found amongst its fauna.) Writes one member, "So, we had two robin families nest in our yard last year. They were a joy to watch. This year, they have decided to nest directly outside our french doors going onto the deck on top of flood lights. It's just a lousy place for them and I fear that they will get quite edgy once the eggs are there with all the in and out from the door. I've already pulled the hay down once, but it's back again. Any nice way to make that spot not so attractive to them? Would hate for them to go away completely, but it's just the worst spot for them and us." Insofar, neighbors only have words of support: "We had a similar siuation with birds nesting in our porch at the tops of brick columns. 'Cute' was our initial reaction, too, until the poop started dripping down the columns... : ( It was really hard to clean off, too."

All Clear for Capitalism: JDLand reports that the Historic Preservation Review Board has recommended that the Market Deli in Near Southeast not be designated historic by the board, or by the National Register of Historic Places. The nomination of the building, aided by ANC 6D07 commissioner David Garber, was not favorably received by the neighborhood, and commenters have cheered the HPRB's decision. One snarks, "So....anyone have any guesses or rumors as to which 'landmark' will be next in line to try and be saved? Will it be the former theater (taxi repair shop on Half St) or the transfer station/stacks?" More congratulatory is another, who says, "Well this is a pleasant surprise. I thought there was a good chance that HPRB was going to support the designation based on some past decisions (ie the old, dilapidated wood shack in perpetual existence at 12th & E SE – sorry I mean 'shotgun' house). Thank goodness the Capitol Hill Restoration Society has no interest in our neighborhood." And, finally: "I fully support the destruction of the Market Deli to advance the bottom line of real estate and surrounding property value."

Beware the Umbrellas: A thread on the Palisades email list is rife with warnings of a potential door-to-door scam. Writes one member, "I had 2 young women soliciting saying they were from UVA doing a communications gig and turns out it is magazines they are selling. Very pushy. They don't want you to buy magazines for them but for wounded soldiers at Walter Reed. Very suspect." Another describes potential tactics of the alleged scammers, adding, "Same here – the two guys who came to my door claimed they'd send the magazines to Veterans' hospitals and gave me a grimy list of hospitals. Set off my suspicions too. They also asked for an umbrella – the police officer who attended later said he'd seen around five people gathered together nearby, whom he thought responsible for the door knocking, all already had umbrellas – he thought the request for an umbrella was simply to get the front door open further to check out the place."

Cleveland Park Problems: Writes one member of the Cleveland Park email list, "Our water has had a smell like burning plastic since yesterday. It is removed by our Brita filter, but still worrisome. Is anyone else experiencing this?" Another adds, "Yes, we smell it too. Our showers stink." No answer to this mystery has been established.

For the Birds, II: Brookland is all about bird-watching these days. After a discussion over the weekend on what plants might best attract hummingbirds, a member of the neighborhood email list notes, "We have a bunch of brown headed cowbirds in our backyard. This is the first time we have had them." Brown-headed cowbirds are unremarkable-looking (despite their very silly name), but according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, they're quite the moochers: "Females forgo building nests and instead put all their energy into producing eggs, sometimes more than three dozen a summer. These they lay in the nests of other birds, abandoning their young to foster parents, usually at the expense of at least some of the host’s own chicks." That's not very neighborly.

Public Service Announcement: New Columbia Heights reminds readers that Columbia Heights' newest (and perhaps only) sports bar, Lou's City Bar, didn't actually replace Commonwealth Gastropub. The most notable dish at Jamie Leeds'—of Hank's Oyster Bar fame—restaurant seemed to be the Scotch eggs; inevitably, New Columbia Heights' post has tipped off a wishlist from commenters of what they'd like to see in the neighborhood. Two suggestions include "a Kebab/Mediterranean joint like the ones they have in Adams Morgan. On a day when I don't feel like making the trek– a Shwarma King or Astor Mediterranean close by would be heaven" and "a cupcake joint with a liquor license."

In Brightwood, Business is Booming: There's been lots of movement on and nearby upper Georgia Avenue recently. Last week, The Brightwoodian noted that Baltimore-based Red Tree would be opening a D.C. shop, Trohv. Over the the past week, Washington Deli has had its soft opening and should move to regular hours soon. There's a general consensus that Washington Deli's pizza and subs—which include vegan options—will be good for the neighborhood. Writes one commenter, "SO GLAD they've finally opened! I've been a fan of their vegan sandwiches and slices at the downtown location for some time–nice to have them in the neighborhood!" A new Brightwood blog, Almost Undefined, gives it a thumbs-up, too.

Best in the Business: Speaking of local businesses, there's quite an ode to Cathedral Pharmacy on the Cleveland Park email list. After Walgreen's and CVS both failed to secure a particular skin care product for a neighborhood resident, Cathedral Pharmacy was able to do so—by the next day—with little trouble. This prompted the resident to write, "The chains offer certain useful services; I do give them my business. For me, however, independents remain the leaders in what can only be referred to as good customer service when it comes to the diversity products they offer and the willingness to take the extra step for (even infrequent, such as me) customers. Our community has a few independent retailers –such as Cathedral Pharmacy– who go out of their way to serve this neighborhood. If we hope to keep them here, and to benefit from the services they offer, we need to remember that they count on us, and patronize their stores." As budgets for Main Street improvement programs get slashed, that's probably a good thing to remember.

Parking Deck, January 5

What do we have here? Is it possible it is responsible for this from a few years ago?

Mount Pleasant, Winter 2010 and 2008

Columbia Road NW, October 7

Little River Turnpike, October 3

Winner after the jump

I've seen this phenomenon all across town–from the waterfront to Farragut to Petworth–although largely confined to the hours between 6 and 8 p.m.  The other day, one bird went so far as to dive out of a tree and nearly collide with my face as I rode down Princeton Avenue on my bicycle.  

I'm telling you, there's some seriously sinister stuff going on in the airspace these days.  

I am convinced that it has something to do with the markets.  With global warming confusing birds' migratory habits, I think they have turned to the Dow for some sort of guidance.  This is obviously ill-advised, but I suppose birds, not unlike many human beings, just don't know any better.

Yesterday, at her fifth annual Blessing of the Animals in Frederick, Pastor Andrea Ernest advised the members of the Bethany Lutheran Church that during these dismal financial times, we humans need more than ever to emulate our furry and feathered brethren in the Animal Kingdom.

"Animals don't care how the stock market closed today," she said in front of a congregation of canines. "Thank God for their place in our lives, which would be poor indeed without them."

Fine, Pastor Ernest, I see what you're saying — animals are swell, God bless the critters, and darnit they're cute too! — but if they are so carefree, if they're such good role models, if they truly don't give a hoot or a tweet about the global economy — then why is it that every evening during the last month, as one financial calamity has tumbled on top of another, shortly after the stock market closes our winged comrades have routinely gone berserk in the branches?  It's as if the floor of the stock exchange has been hoisted into the trees, and when I hear the ominous Hitchcockian rattling at dusk each night, I can't help but think it a harbinger of some sort of apocalyptic event — financial, environmental, ornithological, or, God help us, even worse.