Sunday, November 14, 2010

American Tree Sparrows Back!

Well, today was the first day I had to truly scrape the frost off my windshield! It was thin, but it was there. 35 degrees at around 7:15 a.m. Sunny and pleasant.

The meadow has been mowed (yesterday) and was covered in white frost as well as the edges of grasses and leaves. It was very pretty.

The upper and lower gardens were fairly quiet. There were chickadees, robins, blue jays, juncos, titmice and goldfinches.

I ran into Ian, and we both agreed, the big excitement was the reappearance of the American tree sparrows who will be wintering over here until spring. I love their little chirping noises and their indian red caps are beautiful. They were hanging out with song sparrows and goldfinches in the upper gardens, feeding on weeds on the edge of the woods. The goldfinches were a large group and outnumbered the others considerably. A single seagull flew overhead as well as a small group of crows.

I took a quick look at the pond, which is finally filled with some water and equally filled with at least 10 pairs of mallards. One pair was secluded together, resting under some branches overhanging the water but the others were very active and social. Wish I knew what they were thinking. Are they really paired up, or is this the beginning of the negotiations?

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