I know, I know — I post WAY too many song sparrows. But I like them, and they’re terribly obliging, when it comes to posing for pictures.
It was funny, though: Mother and I were out just before noon, and we couldn’t find anything with wings (well, unless you count a crow that flapped so close to our heads we felt a mild breeze). We were standing about listening for chickadees, and I was telling her about that hissing thing — you know, that pssh-pssh-pssh-pssh-pssh you do with your lips, and suddenly you’re mobbed with small passerines (in theory, anyway) — and as I was talking, a song sparrow ran past us, and into the underbrush.
“See, though, it doesn’t really work,” I said. “Pssh-pssh-pssh-pssh — hey!” And wouldn’t you know it: several sparrows appeared, as though by magic, rising up from the bushes and into the trees. I hissed again, and even MORE appeared. And here are some of them:
I’m going back, later. Perhaps I’ll return with a brand new bird. Hope springs eternal!