Thursday, March 22, 2007

Chip!


Word of the Day:
clerisy \KLER-uh-see\, noun:
The well educated class; the intelligentsia.

Ahh...today, some bird pictures.
I was thrilled to see a long-awaited buddy at the feeders this afternoon:

chip
Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina)
Even their Latin name is cute. Say it a few times, and you will see what I mean..
"spizella passerina, spizella passerina..."
Sounds like an Italian ice cream.
chip 2
They are spring and summer visitors here in Ohio, and I got worried last year when I didn't see any. But a pair ate their fill of millet and I am a happy girl today.
chip and chick
They are dainty little sparrows, probably my favorite next to song sparrows (who have another sweet Latin name: Melospiza melodia) Even the chickadees look butch next to them.
cardinal and saffflower hull
I don't know why, but I love messy-faced birds. Maybe that stems from having kids. They eat like farmhands, too. They get more on their face than in their face.
I am off to work on the RAPTOR blog. Feel free to visit.

6 comments:

Mary said...

Susan - short, sweet, and happy post. Love the chipping sparrow (I've never seen one of them, either!)

Love the messy faced birds, too!

Glad you saw some birds again. I'm waiting for some time to do the same.

Anonymous said...

Your Chipping sparrows are soo cute! Glad they made it back alright! Shouldn't be "TOO" long before mine return! Checking out your other blog!

LauraHinNJ said...

Jeesh - I was all excited and the link doesn't work.

;-(

The Swami said...

Laura,
Swami believes that Susan was just trying to drive her visitors crazy with a non-working link.

And for some of us it's such a short drive.

Anonymous said...

Oh, Chippies! I'm jealous - I haven't seen one yet. The cutest sparrow ever.

~Kathi

Susan Gets Native said...

Sorry, everyone. I fixed the link.
But for some reason, all the work I did last night isn't showing up.
Hmmm...maybe wordpress isn't so great?