pumpkin green sparrow

Green Cheese, originally uploaded by gurdonark.

Autumn sparrows. They fly south from places far from here. They gather in our woodlands to over-winter, even as the scissor-tailed flycatcher and the western kingbird vacate here in flocks to head to the tropical south.

I like sparrows because I know so little about them. Each species has is own markings and "look", but the variations are subtle. Unless I am quick with my birding guide, i cannot distinguish one from another. Tonight I think I saw song sparrows, but they might easily have been Lincoln's sparrows instead.

Soon the egrets will migrate away, in huge funnels arching skyward
like a white tornado seeking refugee wicked witches. The moon shimmered in late afternoon, in the way that moons do. The water flooded over the dam. The time passed me by, and I bought a pumpkin-flavored frozen yogurt.