Chipping

This time of the year I expect to see waterfowl on the wetlands. There are none today. But little seedeaters are everywhere. They rise from the standing dead grass blades like grasshoppers from a wheat field. In the flat light it is hard to distinguish one of the little brown jobs from another. But I identify several song sparrows and a savannah sparrow. Then a rare chipping sparrow settled on a nearby root wad. While a thrush shares a spring-like song, the chipping sparrow strikes a series of poses for my camera.