field sparrow – The Morning Porch/Patio

Tuesday April 16, 2019

Dave Bonta April 16, 2019

A kestrel lands on a limb at the woods’ edge, looks around and flies off, skimming the ground. The field sparrow barely pauses his song.

Dave Bonta March 30, 2019

Distant gunshots from the shooting range in the valley. The impression of rising excitement in a field sparrow’s song.

Dave Bonta March 15, 2019

Dark clouds in the west lit up by the sun—backdrop for the first turkey vultures of spring, 14 of them, circling. A field sparrow sings.

Dave Bonta March 20, 2018

An ashen sky, gravid with snow. The field sparrow’s back: that song that sounds like rising excitement (or alarm, depending on one’s mood).

Dave Bonta March 30, 2017 2

Dismal and cold, like a November day—except for the daffodils, the field sparrow’s rising trill, the red maple blossoms about to burst.

Dave Bonta April 5, 2016

Sunny but cold. One of the tall locust trees in the yard has developed a loud creak. Two field sparrows are calling, but not to each other.

Dave Bonta March 7, 2016 2

Warm and clear. As the morning wears on, the traffic noise from over the ridge diminishes, leaving only the field sparrow’s ascending song.

Dave Bonta October 19, 2015

Last night’s heavy frost retreats to the shade. By 10:30, sparrows are bathing in the stream, shaking themselves dry in the sunlit dogwood.

Dave Bonta April 25, 2015

A ruffed grouse drums and a field sparrow sings with almost the same accelerating rhythm. The hollow gurgle of the stream under the yard.

Dave Bonta April 1, 2015 1

The rapid-fire drumming of a downy woodpecker on a hollow limb. A field sparrow’s ascending call. My partner snaps a photo of her feet.