If you like birds, keep an eye out for peregrine falcons! These lovely birds of prey pass through the area around now (some stay for the winter) and have a taste for the local wildlife — mammals, as well as other lesser birds. There’s one falcon that’s taken to hanging around the parking lot at Arlington Central Public Library, much to the consternation of area squirrels. I also saw a pair of falcons worrying stragglers out of a flock of starlings over Key Bridge. Like DCeiver, I despise starlings with a black heart of pure hatred, so I was definitely cheering for the predators.

But the best peregrine falcon sighting I ever had was one in April 2005, when one of the birds decided to perch in a tree right by the Smithsonian Metro entrance on the National Mall, with half of an uneaten squirrel hanging from a nearby branch, while cherry blossom tourists gawked at the scene. Fun times. (Pictures after the jump, with a mild gore warning.)

Paulo Ordoveza

Roving Asian mendicant, can occasionally be seen wandering the streets of downtown Washington, muttering unintelligible gibberish to passers-by while pushing a “bag lady” shopping cart full of old blankets, American flags, soda cans, and healthy secondhand snacks from organic food shop dumpsters. Used to live in a cardboard box at 16th and K but the rent was too expensive.