Chip chip!

I was sorely tempted to blip another bee today, but I decided to go with the Chipping Sparrow instead. They are adorable, tiny little birds who breed in our area in the summer. They've just recently returned from wherever they spend the winters and I've had groups of them at the feeders for the last week. Some are probably just moving through, hopefully some will stay and nest on our property.

There is no way to tell if this one is a male or female as the sexes are identical. They are one of our smaller sparrows, measuring only 5 inches (13 cm) in length, about the size of an American Goldfinch. They are similar in appearance to our tree sparrows, but have a distinctive dark eye stripe that the tree sparrows lack (which you can see clearly in this shot.)

Peg is enroute and I expect her to arrive just in time for cocktails, so I figured I'd blip now rather than subject you to wine-induced ramblings later. Be thankful.

I expectt to be blipping a lot of bees within the next week - our two weeping cherry trees are just now beginning to bloom and already the pollinators are gathering. By this time Wednesday, both trees should have blooms and I expect an abundance of blip-fodder!

Thank you for the lovely comments on my wee spider yesterday! And special thanks to the arachnaphobes who dared to look (you know who you are!)

Nest box news: Another bluebird came around to look at one of the boxes today, but didn't stay long. The chickadees are still making frequent trips in and out of the second bluebird box, but no signs yet of nesting. Stay tuned...

Happy Monday.

xxoo
Debbi