A regular summary of irregular news and notes from neighborhood blogs and email lists around the District.

Birds of a Feather: The tale of a lost cockatiel took over the Georgetown email list over the weekend. The bird was originally found by a member of the list on Saturday afternoon, who had captured the bird and took it into their care. Eventually, the bird was reunited with its owner, who writes, “Thanks to alert readers of the Georgetown Forum, and through a series of wonderful coincidences, the beautiful Cockatiel ‘Sugar’ Taylor has been reunited with her family! Sugar accidentally left her home over in the Palisades last Wednesday and—despite clipped wings—arrived in the 1500 Block of 29th Street 4 days later. On Saturday she insisted on a reservation overnight at the Falatko’s Georgetown B&B (Bird and Breakfast). Today her Mom learned of her sighting through this posting and she has now happily, as you can see, gone home to her girl who missed her very much.”

Thanksgiving Bargain: A member of the Adams Morgan email list is attempting to solve her Thanksgiving dilemma by bartering with neighbors. She writes, “I’m in a pre-Thanksgiving panic. A guest has requested an appetizer of deviled eggs, which are in fact quite yummy but I just don’t have time to make them with all the other dishes. So! Two questions: Does anyone know of a nearby store that carries ready-made deviled eggs? Or, is anyone interested in bartering a batch of deviled eggs for one of my homemade cheesecakes? I can make any flavor you’d like—as long as it’s for delivery post-Thanksgiving.” If anyone is good at making deviled eggs, they should raise the stakes to two cheesecakes for their eggs.

Littering Leaves: Now that fall is coming to a close, it’s time to clean up the leaves that have accumulated on local lawns. One member of the Brookland Kids email list is a confused about how to do this. They write on to the list, “Hello. This is our first autumn in Brookland and we just did a major raking of the yard. Now where do I put all the leaves? I am hesitant to put them in the street, since no one on my street has done so. I would not want to go against some unspoken rule. Is it a situation where they are picked up by the city in the alley?” (The city does run leaf collection services.)

One in a Million: A member of a Chevy Chase email list is, surprisingly, praising the jury duty system. The member writes, “I want to put in a good word for DC’s jury system. Our family have been repeatedly called up and we serve when we can but on many occasions I have had to call the office to explain our circumstances. I always reach not only a human but a kind, knowledgeable and helpful one. When I did go down there I was never actually called onto a jury but found the wait comfortable and everyone again helpful and smiling. There are tables designated for computer hookup and I got a lot of work done there. I think the world of them.”