Venus and Jupiter swing past each other, but don’t connect. No luck seeing them. Cloudy Sewanee.
To make up for it, about two hundred robins fly right past my face in a storm of dusky wings as the light fails. They are headed to roost in the evergreens.
This week, robin numbers are building as wintering birds from AL and FL move northward. Robins get little respect from birders — too common — but I find their abundance and ubiquity impressive. There are over three hundred million robins in North America. They live in almost every habitat that has trees and some open space (from urban parks, to scrubby deserts, to the edge of the tundra). Tremble, earthworms, tremble.
David George Haskell 
I love robins, especially how they’ll listen with their heads close to the ground then dig up a worm. The ole migratory turd. Some of my favorite birds are the common ones. Our yard is getting aerated for free, too! :) But they better stay away from my compost pile.
Common things are indeed worth paying attention to. So much great stuff waiting to be seen. About turds: you may have seen this on my FB reply to Scott, but here is the relevant etymology for the genus Turdus…Linnaeus named the genus back in 1758. He used the Latin for thrush — Turdus. The other “turd” comes from Old Engligh, “tord.” So, in terms of historical precedence, the thrushes win, I think. For further turd roots, see: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=turd&searchmode=none
I have been watching the planets each night as I walk my dog around the block in my neighborhood in Nashville, but didn’t realize they were swinging past each other. They are incredibly bright and large.
Some nice photos at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/17341807 I’m sorry I missed it.