...unfortunately, this fellow was a little too far away for a great shot, but his charm definitely shows through in the wash of evening sunshine.
...temps dipped almost wickedly yesterday evening, and I was shivering while I snapped this shot. Illusions of an endless summer were suddenly cut short, and with all my efforts, I couldn't conjure any heat out of the radiant, warm yellow tones of the goldenrod blossoms...
...you are such a sweetie, and I'll definitely miss you when you decide you've had enough of autumn and head south for the winter.
...hopefully he has a home to return to next spring. The high meadow at VOA Park is falling prey to succession and the awful little Bradford Pear saplings are taking over...along with waves and waves of teasel, which is not choice habitat for Savannahs or my favorite little summer sparrow, the Henslow's Sparrow. They prefer grasses, and this summer the grasses were definitely in decline. Funds are thin in the Butler County park system, and there's not enough money to bushwhack or burn the fields.
...don't look south sweet little bird! I want you around a little longer...
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31 comments:
Hi Kelley... He looks perplexed; perhaps he is thinking about what it will have to pack for the long flight!! : }
I like the golden glow and the cutie in this photo; nice!!
It doesn't get much better than this!
Kelly,
Granted it was a distant shot, these are still very good!
They all have to go soon kelly, but they will be back :-)
I love the golden rod, I have some plated in my garden, I dont think I'll be getting any Savannah Sparrows on it any time soon though :-)
They move fast when I am in the deep grasses. Makes it hard to tell what was in front of me a lot.Good capture.
Lovely rich warm colours in these photos Kelly. I dearly hope that something can be done to preserve their habitat. Are there any conservation volunteer groups in your area that might take on that type of project? I noticed the chill of the colder season approaching yesterday when I went for a walk up at my Mum's. My ears ached with the cold! YIKES!
Great shots, Kelly! I know from experience how hard it is to get a decent shot of these little guys.
It feels even colder here today, Kelly...time for jackets! Your photos are lovely!
Hi Kelly, I'm trying to catch up with blogs today... It's HARD... ha ha
Love that sweet little Savannah Sparrow. What a cute little bird.
Enjoyed your Praying Mantis post also.
BUT--I loved your art lesson. You have so much talent. I cannot draw my way out of a paper bag... ha...
Love that picture of you sitting at the computer.
Hugs,
Betsy
Nice shots Kelly. This one looks a lot like a bird that we get. The Twite. (Carduelis flvirostris)
Wow! Great shots of a hard to get little birdie!
Nice shots- I haven't seen those sparrows around here, probably the wrong habitat. We definitely make up for it with huge numbers of song sparrows...
well, they don´t care that we want them to stay a bit longer. We also have cold and windy weather. No wonder they leave us. At least you got some very good shots.
Terrific series, Kelly. He's such a cute and sweet little bird.
What gorgeous, golden colors you have captured! The photos are so beautiful and so summery. Hang them all on the wall and you'll have a room where summer never ends!
Beautiful underappreciated sparrows! Great photos.
Beautiful photos! Love the way the background color plays with the plumage of the bird
: )
The late afternoon light is beautiful and you have captured it perfectly.
I hope you're successful in persuading them to stay. Then perhaps ours will hang around a bit longer as well.
And I think the photos are great!
What a charming little sparrow. Very beautiful photos!
The background of the goldenrod is a perfect contrast for the little sparrow, but I think I like the last shot of the little sparrow looking to the south best. It's hard to see the birds departing in the fall, but they'll be back in the spring, and even if this habitat is changing they will find a spot to their liking. Hopefully you'll be able to find it too.
Gorgeous, gorgeous shots of the Savannah Sparrow Kelly! The goldenrod is a perfect backdrop for these beautiful little birds.
A little beauty Kelly.
HI Kelly,
Wow you got a awesome light on that bird! Superb!
What beautiful shots of a very sweet looking little bird that I have never seen. Have a safe winter in the South, little bird.
Hi Kelly,
Thank you for posting your lovely photos. I enjoy them so much, as well as you interesting text.
I'm lousy about writing on the blogs I follow but I had to write and make a humble suggestion for your local grassland...goats. It may be possible for the resource managers to borrow or hire goats to clear the seedlings/saplings as this is what they prefer, browse, over grasses. This is becoming quite common and I've even seen them used at a National Park.
kind regards, Leecia
Leecia...that's interesting. I wonder if they would consider it or have even heard of using goats! Thank you!
Love these! Hard to believe it was so chilly you were shivering. It looks warm, like the end of August warm.
....I know....it looks very warm, but it wasn't. Seems summer is gone. The highs this weekend will be in the 60s... I already miss the heat...
Awesome series, Kelli! I'm glad I found your blog :-)
I like the goat idea for managing the VOA High Meadow. With some of the large trees growing out there, I'm afraid we'd need elephants, though! Maybe that would work. 12,000 years ago there were mastodons munching away in Butler County. Why not elephants today? ;-)
It is depressing how quickly trees and teasel have swept across the site in the past five years. That's for sure.
Take care,
---Mike
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