field sparrow

October 10, 2014

Dave Bonta October 10, 2014

Now that the walnuts have all fallen, a squirrel deigns to pick one off the ground. The dogwood beside the stream pullulates with sparrows.

Dave Bonta May 11, 2013 2

I feel it before I see it: in the half-light, the intense green of new leaves. The sound of field sparrows, towhees, spring peepers, rain.

Dave Bonta April 14, 2013

Sunny but still cold at 9:00. A fly walks slowly up a porch column. Water gurgles in the ditch. Three kinds of sparrows trade songs.

Dave Bonta April 9, 2013

A wild turkey gobbling on the far ridge. Two field sparrows trade calls, notes rising as they accelerate like engines being revved up.

Dave Bonta March 13, 2013 2

A mourning dove duet, and that rising note—the first field sparrow of spring! An hour later, snow is blowing sideways.

Dave Bonta July 24, 2012

Six times in a row, the wood pewee chimes in right after the field sparrow. Don’t tell me birds don’t sing in part for the pleasure of it.

Dave Bonta April 15, 2012 2

Breezy and cool. Small white moths—or are they flower petals?—flutter against the grey sky. A field sparrow’s ascending notes.

Dave Bonta March 11, 2012 3

The mourning dove still calls at 9:30. A field sparrow’s accelerating notes: Hurry up! Hurry up! Daylight savoring time—when is that?

Dave Bonta April 30, 2011 4

The French lilac, backlit by the sun, shimmers like a bright green sail against the still-open woods. A field sparrow’s rising trill.

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This will be the last new update until May 17th; I’m off to the U.K. to give a poetry reading and visit friends.