Entries to Win Afghan

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Thursday, March 24, 2016

Little Pleasures

 
These two pictures are left over from Saturday's walk.

It's not that the snow and ice isn't pretty. It really is. But I wanted to share these with you, and so they win for today.

A little surprise like a very early English daisy, Bellis perennis, was easily enough to bring on a smile. I know they are considered by some to be a terrible nuisance in yards, but I love them.

English Daisy

I had to get help to identify the second little treat. I'm just not a very good birder. I saw a bird moving in the grass ahead of me, and it held still long enough for me to get a poor picture (which is a slight improvement on no picture!).

Well, I could do better than little brown bird. I knew it was a sparrow, but which one? My bird guy says song sparrow, Melospiza melodia. If he'd posed for me at a better angle, I would have known. If he'd sung for me, I would have known! I'm much better at botany than birds. Nevertheless, a little spark of spring wildlife was welcome.

song sparrow


See Song Sparrow
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3 comments:

The Furry Gnome said...

The first sparrow back here is usually the Song Sparrow, but I haven't seen one yet this year.

Ann said...

we always have a ton of those sparrows at our feeder.

Secondary Roads said...

I gave up trying to identify sparrows on my own. Peterson's guide lists of sparrows is about as long as my arm. Is it okay if I just call them sparrows?