The annual explosion of chipping sparrows is officially "on." There are 11 in the photo to the left (click for large view,) but I counted 20 altogether this morning. There was also a blue jay & a female cardinal out there at one point, but they're "regulars." I saw a brown rat amongst the bird seed the other day, as well. The last we'd seen of mama rat or her 2 babies was before Hurricane Gustav.The other day Charles & I were fortunate enough to meet Marvin (a fellow blogger,) & his wife (who makes wonderful pottery,) at the Three Rivers Art Festival. Unfortunately I'd forgotten my camera (again,) & there wasn't time or energy to introduce them to some of the local hiking areas, but I'm glad we had the opportunity to meet, nonetheless.
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23 comments:
Sparrows look like fat little guys.
Must have been little chow hounds in the summer.
I'm glad to see the sparrows.
The sparrows are great and I'll zip over and check out this other blog you mentioned...
I have yet to meet anyone in person that I first became acquainted with via the blog world.
That has to be very exciting, to meet some fellow bloggers in real time!
One of my blogging friends ALMOST made it to my art show in Feb., but wasn't able to come, in the end. I was very excited to meet her.
One day we will all have a HUGE international bloggers' convention, right? ;)
Wow, those little sparrows really did a job on the tree trunk
Don't you hate when you leave your camera at home? I left it this a.m. and missed out on quite a few interesting shots, especially the one that I thought was a fox...turned out it was the biggest cat I've ever seen. Still would've made for a good pic! :o)
Aw, sorry you forgot your camera. Your photos are always amazing.
Amazing to see the birds. They blend in at first. Nature's cammo I guess, but once you see them they're there!
It's 12... i guess 3 are not clearly visible. :D
neat sparrows... zero use for rats... also cool meeting mr and mrs marvin, i'm sure ;)
I enlarged the pic to see those fat sparrows. :-)
I gave you an award. Stop by and pick it up when you get a chance. :-)
ivan; They must have found adequate feeders all the way down. Nice to see them all hale & hearty, anyway!
charles; Me, too. The backyard's been too barren since Gustav. <:(
david; Enjoy! It's quite informative over there.
travis e.; Charles & I actually first met online (although that was long ago now.)
lynda; A huge bloggers' convention would be great, if you could actually get people to GO. Even regional conventions would be cool, y'know? Hard to coordinate those kinds of things, of course.
roadgurl5; Actually 2 years of weathering & numerous woodpeckers, raccoons & nuthatches really did a job on our stumplets (& still continue to.) The sparrows really haven't done squat.
I used to get mad at myself for forgetting my camera, but I'm STILL better than I USED to be, so now I just let it go. I used to get really upset w/myself, though. Unfortunately, years ago, when I literally went nowhere w/o my camera, my car (& camera--at the time borrowed from a friend,) ended up stolen. So much for that idea.
kate; At least I have the memories! *L*
sidney; My camera didn't seem to do a great job of focusing, unfortunately. This was the best picture out of the bunch. I'd even cleaned the back door glass, so I know it's not that. Sometimes my camera's just picky, I think.
doson; I still only see 11, but I got new glasses recently, so my eyes may still be adjusting.
laughingwolf; Yes, it was cool to meet fellow bloggers! As for the rats, I'd much rather see them outside than inside. ;)
dh; Thank you kindly! Will stop by later (when I get home.)
It's great to put a face with the name of people you meet on-line. I had that pleasure twice this summer!
I like the Int'l convention idea.... :)
Take good care of those chipping sparrows so they can fly back up and visit us when spring rolls around.
I was great meeting you and Charles. We had our camera in the booth, I just didn't think about taking photos. Doh!
Show season is always hectic, but it would be fantastic to get a guided tour of some of the wildlife areas down your direction.
Great blog and beautiful photos. Thank you for sharing. Keep up the good work!!!
WOOT! that your birds are back, Lana. You must be soooo EXCITED!!! We're hanging the suet today and then the sunflowers will go in the feeder soon too. What a FANTASTIC bird time of the year. :D
How cool you met fellow bloggers!!!
Great post!!!
Hugs, JJ
That's where they go?!?!?! Quit hogging all the sparrows!
lol
How have you been?
Thanks for the kind words, all. Sorry for my recent absence, but I've been busy. Will get back to "normal" soon (I hope!)
Very good camouflage, hard to count!
Like the sparrows...they're always chirping or hopping in search of food whenever I see them here.
Thanks for the introduction to Marvin.
Lots of chippies! You take care of them while they're down there, ok? I'll look forward to them again around mid-April.
Well I guess if there's going to be an explosion then an explosion of Chipping Sparrows is a good way to go.-Cute little devils aren't they? I wouldn't want Brown Rats though.
Tabib; One of my readers actually pointed out one in the photo I hadn't noticed myself. *L*
Barbara; I love to see our Winter residents returning. The robins are coming now. Soon the goldfinches will be here. :) Hope you enjoy Marvin's blog. It's very informative!
Nancy; Worry not...I'll certainly be sending them back fat & happy. :)
Larry; Cute & pretty patient. Not half as skittish as most of the "regulars." I know I'm weird to like to see the brown rat again, but after Gustav so many of our critters were just gone.
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