song sparrow

Thursday February 28, 2019

Dave Bonta February 28, 2019 0

Cold air, bright sun. A song sparrow in the barberry bush sings continuously for nearly a minute—manic in a way I’ve never heard before.

Dave Bonta February 23, 2019 0

Overcast. A song sparrow’s song. Chipmunks break their habitual solitude to dash across the hard snowpack, fighting, looking for mates.

Dave Bonta January 12, 2019

As bright as the sun seems, shining through thin cloud, there are almost no shadows. A song sparrow sits in a spicebush, looking all around.

Dave Bonta January 8, 2019 1

Last night’s ice has melted, but the rain continues. A song sparrow sits in the barberry bush, gorging, emitting a chirp after each berry.

Dave Bonta November 17, 2018 1

Where the stream fans out beside the springhouse, birds hop down the snowbanks and into the water to bathe: sparrows, juncos, Carolina wren.

Dave Bonta March 25, 2018

Cold as a well under a deep blue sky torn by the distant roar of military jets. The morning singers carry on: cardinal, song sparrow, robin.

Dave Bonta February 12, 2018 1

Two clouds cross, a high one going north and a low one going south—a sight so odd it feels like an omen, until the song sparrow sings.

Dave Bonta January 28, 2018

The cloud ceiling—as meteorologists call it—grows thin, judging by the sun’s intensifying glow. Agitated song sparrows chirp back and forth.

Dave Bonta January 3, 2018

Deer came in the night and dug up half the yard to get at the evergreen myrtle. Sun pours down from a cloudless sky. A song sparrow sings.

Dave Bonta March 17, 2017

I take off my hat to sunbathe as icicles drop, turning the roof toothless. The brass section tunes up: jay, cardinal, song sparrow.