Occasionally I have to remind myself that some of the more common species deserve some love too. Today I’ll attempt to provide some for the Song Sparrow.
I found this one yesterday morning in the Wasatch Mountains. As I approached a fence line I spooked a small group of Song Sparrows that had been taking cover in the brush near the wire of the fence. Most of them flew off right when I was turning my pickup off but this one defiantly stood ‘his’ ground. I got quite a few photos of him in this droopy-wing pose, a pose I’ve always liked.
I suppose the wire behind the bird is unfortunate but at least it isn’t barbed wire.
When he eventually took off I caught him in a takeoff posture I like, despite the cluttered setting. Pretty good reflexes for an old geezer like me.
But he didn’t go far. He landed on the wire a few feet further down the fence line and posed from there for a few seconds. before rejoining his buddies that had already flown off and landed in a small tree behind the fence. This setting is significantly less cluttered than the previous one.
While I was processing this photo, the pin feather just emerging from its sheath at the bottom of his wing caught my attention. I enjoy little details like that.
This wire so closely resembles the wire of the tomato cages in my vegetable garden, I’ll admit that my eye keeps expecting to see red tomatoes behind the bird.
It may be that I’ve spent too much time in my garden this summer. Or chowed down on too many BLT’s.
Ron
Your reactions are exceptional. And thank you for featuring this subtle charmer.
I am still envying you your tomatoes. Still too cold (and unpredictable) to plant them here.
Thanks, EC. I’ve eaten more tomatoes, and BLT’s, this summer than I ever have before. I also give lots of them away but some of them still go to waste – which pains me.
Nothing “common“ about a bird that will sing to us in winter, is there? ☺️ Love these birds. Thanks, Ron.
Very good point, Ellen.
Nice and tend to go unnoticed/ignored here…. 😉 Looks like what we call “hog wire” here. BLT time will be coming to a close in the near future….. 😉
Had to break down and fire up the furnace here yesterday afternoon – 61 out, howling wind, and drafty old house! Hate that 1st turn on as the dust “stinks”……. 🙁 Then if will be 90 Sun.
“BLT time will be coming to a close in the near future.”
Say it ain’t so, Judy. It’ll be a sad day when it comes.
Pretty cold here too. I almost fired up my furnace but put a heavy sweatshirt on instead.
Damned good Reflexes Ron and a lot tougher job than catching an Eagle or Red-tail etc. Small bird take offs in a cluttered background are not easy.
Thank you, Everett.
I like photo #3– A LOT…. the wire square makes a nice little “frame”
of proper visual weight and proportion for a small and trim little body.
One wouldn’t ordinarily “see” the subtle coloration and markings,
and this shot gives them a nice platform. Strangely, the strand of twisted wire to the right adds interest to the whole…….
Kris, I actually spent quite a bit of time playing with different crops and compositions of photo #3 and almost included one of them as a different option. Maybe I should have.
Even the common can (and should be) special.
Good reflexes, yes, for anyone. But moreover I think the years in the field have honed your instincts.
I am partial to that third photo. Particularly so since you pointed out that pin feather. Don’t know if I would have caught that had you not pointed it out.
As for having spent too much time in the garden, or having too many BLTs, I just can’t imagine that is at all possible.
Thanks, Michael.
A. Agreed.
B. True. But luck was still a big part of it. They’re so damn fast, it always is.
C. I didn’t notice the emerging feather until I was processing the photo.
D. I can’t imagine it either. Which reminds me, I need to buy more bacon today (mouth watering…).