After my yucky week Tim made sure I got out for another walk soon, especially since we’re supposed to be having a few storms this week. I haven’t been finding many birds lately, and not even the gulls were cooperating at the beach, where we found ourselves on Sunday.
But then I remembered a song sparrow I had seen back in July in a thicket near a chain link fence on top of a cement wall near the estuary. (timelessness and quiet ecstasy) I decided to see if some song sparrows were still there. Yes! They live here year round and are native to North America. Finding them made my day! 🙂
in a thicket by
the sea the song sparrows are
still keeping a home
~ Barbara Rodgers
(By the Sea)
Feeds heavily on seeds, especially in winter, mainly those of grasses and weeds. Birds in coastal marshes and on islands also feed on small crustaceans and mollusks, perhaps rarely on small fish.
~ National Audubon Society website, page on song sparrows
If you would have the song of the sparrow inspire you a thousand years hence, let your life be in harmony with its strain to-day.
~ Henry David Thoreau
(Journal, May 12, 1857)
Wonderful post. The little Sparrow is precious. Some days I see no birds in our area and other days they seem to be everywhere. It certainly lifts the soul to take a walk and commune with nature.
Thank you, Peggy. Knowing nothing about sparrows I was surprised to find they were still there, and more surprised to find out what they eat in the winter. Nature walks are definitely soul-lifting. 🐦
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Sparrows are one of the commonest kinds in Norway I think. And they are so playful! I wonder if Song sparrow is what we call just sparrow – never heard the name before. Can’t remember i ever heard them sing – just a lot of happy chirping
Well, Leelah, there are at least 35 types of sparrow species in North America! So far I’ve managed to find and photograph only 3 of them — house sparrow, song sparrow and swamp sparrow. Here’s what this one sounds like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU9lkQEP8_g I’d love to see what your sparrows look like.
I love your sparrow photos! I’ve seen (and heard) them outside my window, but I’ve not been quick enough to get them to pose. But gee, they have a lot to say at this time of year!!
Thank you, Debbie!! I’ve had the same experience with the sparrows who land on my balcony and have never been able to get a picture. It seems they worry less about visitors/photographers when they feel safe in their own homes. 😉
What a sweet poem! And more sweet how much you love sparrows, how happy they make you. Will you be getting that big snowstorm that’s headed to the Northeast? How much snow are you supposed to get? We got 5 inches the other day.
Thank you, Kathy! Let’s see, yesterday they were predicting 12-16 inches, last night they lowered it to 5-8 inches down here on the shore, but this morning they’re predicting 10-13 inches for the shoreline, more inland. All I know is we haven’t seen this much snow in five years!
Lovely post and photos, Barbara, your Song Sparrow is so adorable!
Thank you, Donna! They are awfully cute, aren’t they? 💙
Very calming, except for that alligator.
Perish the thought — an alligator in Connecticut! 🙂
But, but, I see it with my own eyes!
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The sparrow photos are so cute and I enjoy all your quotes that you pair up with your posts as well. I meant to mention it on the other post that I liked the Jane Goodall quote there. The shoreline shot with the rocks and the man meditating looks picturesque.
Thank you, Linda ~ I’ve always been an avid quote collector. Especially ones that describe moments of transcendence like the one Jane Goodall had. The sparrows came through for me that day ~ I was starting to think I’d never find another bird to photograph!
When I still worked at the law firm and for the first seven years after my boss and I went out on our own, I did a daily “Thought for Today” and I collected quotes from everywhere. Most of the time I did it, we did not have internet. We never even got Windows at the law firm until just before Y2K. I did a quote because we got this antiquated inter-office e-mail system (pre-Windows) and the administrative partner said to practice sending to various groups or other individuals to get comfortable with Pine E-mail. We could not send to the outside world at that time. So I sent a quote to “all” and called it “Thought for Today” and enjoyed doing it immensely. After we got Windows I jazzed it up with something called Incredimail for backgrounds. I did it until our computer system crashed at work and we were out of commission from October 2010 until April 2021 – I had to stop because my Outlook crashed and I had everyone’s contact info in there, never to be retrieved. After Robb/I left the firm, I still had about 30 people wanted to stay on my “Thought for Today” but doing it from my home plus Comcast web-based e-mail was no picnic so I stopped. I have always liked quotes and have a lot of quote books like perpetual calendars I used to get them from.
Your “Thought for Today” project sounds wonderful! I would have trouble coming up with a new quote every day, so my hats off to you! It’s so sad when we lose information due to computer or software failures. I try not to repeat the quotes I use on the blog but sometimes I’m tempted to because readers seem to come and go… Very few of my current readers were following me ten years ago!
I loved doing it Barbara! Our computer system was down for six months and I was working from home at the time, so I did a lot of items from scratch. Not fun since we re-purpose many of our former documents. The invoices were done from scratch and added up … also an inconvenience as it took forever, then all had to be transferred into the accounting system eventually.
My house is done in a country theme and my mom and I often went to small country stores and they often featured those perpetual calendars with a quote each day. My mom bought me some calendars and I had books I bought filled with quotes. Also, my mom was a tea drinker, and I’m not sure the brand, but the tea bag tags had these witty little sayings that were similar to a fortune cookies. So she’d save them for me and I’d use those too sometimes. But no internet to get quotes … I would go through those quote books and cross-index them so when it was an event/holiday, etc. I could lay my hands on the quote right away. Now, it’s just a couple of mouse clicks and you find just what you want and on Pinterest, you get a photo along with it. I find some of my quotes here – they are often nature related or about life. They have a daily quote, but their quotes are not archived: https://gratefulness.org/
What a tedious project getting all those documents in order, but what a pleasant task looking for quotes. I have a few books of quotes, too. My most recent purchase was “The Quotable Thoreau” edited by Jeffrey S. Cramer. (That’s why there have been so many Thoreau quotes on my blog lately!) I love shopping at small country stores, antique shops and used bookstores. You must treasure the memories of shopping with your mom. Thanks for the link! I’m off to explore. 🙂
Isn’t it just so glorious how finding a sparrow can brighten your day? I enjoyed this post so much, Barbara, the quotes and photos and your lovely words.
Thank you, Jet! Finding the sparrows still in the same spot was glorious and started a new investigation for me. I didn’t know that house sparrows are an invasive species (like starlings) but these darling little song sparrows are native. So much to learn!
I think song sparrows are darling, and finding one is really wonderful. I remember a college professor stopping us in our tracks on a field day when he heard one singing.
I think so, too, ever since I first saw one eating a big bug in July. 🙂 They have such a pretty song! I can see why your professor would have his/her students stop and listen.