The seasonal changing of the guard...

Yesterday evening, a lovely Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) flew into view and perched in an outer branch of a tree at the edge of the woods. He was sweet and sat there looking at me with his rusty red cap at a jaunty angle--almost seeming to ask me if I was ready for the excitement of spring to begin. Around here, Chipping Sparrows signal the change of the season. Soon the little American Tree Sparrows (Spizella arborea) that flew in on a cold wind last autumn, will head north, and the other winter birds like the Dark-eyed Juncos will go with them...it's the seasonal changing of the guard!

A Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) sits pretty at the edge of the woods and lets me know spring is about to be sprung!

Chipping Sparrows flit in and out of bushes around our house all summer long. I see them constantly nipping at grass seeds and hear their happy summer chatter. They are the perfect summer counterpart to the winter American Tree Sparrows!

Business as usual at the heronry...and our Chipping Sparrows are back!!

Just about all the couples at the Great Blue Heron rookery are sitting on nests, and the activity seems to be increasing during the day. Some of the nests have been occupied for almost a month. The first day I saw any of the couples sitting on a nest was March 6, and it takes about a month for the eggs to hatch, so any day now…

Three of the six sycamore trees that support the colony 

of herons nesting in the rookery. The heronry looks 

almost empty here, but it's completely full. Little 

heads can be seen just above the rim of the nests.

Last week on the 26th they were sitting on nests…

Today on the 31st, again they are sitting on nests... But today there was a whole lotta shakin’ going on! The mama or the papa would get up, move around a little, play with the nest a little, or turn the eggs a little…then settle back in, which was neat to watch…sort of like “whack a mole” at the amusement park only    i  n     s  l  o  w     m  o  t  i  o  n     !

She or he's up, adjusting the nest or rotating the eggs...

...and down, keeping the eggs warm.

...and his or her neighbor is up, adjusting the nest or rotating the eggs...

...and down, keeping the eggs warm.

Beak Bit
Male and female herons take turns sitting on the eggs, but the Birds of North America Online site indicates that the males sit on the nests for about 10.4 hours each day and females only 3.5 hour each day. The female does most of the incubating at night. Adults usually spend about 54 minutes of each hour sitting on eggs, and they rotate the eggs about once every 2 hours. The females do most of the nest constructing, but the males bring in sticks for the nests.

Even though most of the birds have been sitting on eggs, males still continue to bring in sticks for the nests. It's almost a continuous stream of herons flying in with sticks.

Papa bringing another stick in for the nest...

While I was watching all the popping up and down of the herons, I suddenly heard the familiar buzzy trill of a small flock of Chipping Sparrows! Yeah! They are back. I watched and listened to them trill down the tree line. There were five of them, and they were, needless to say, exceptionally cute. I spent too much time watching them and not enough time trying to photograph them, but I did catch a Song Sparrow that was about 20 feet away.

...the Song Sparrow looking slightly ruffled...

No bluebird sightings today, however...

Note   If you're just tuning in to this blog, you might want to go to the first entry in this series to find out more about these herons.

Will today be the last day for our American Tree Sparrows?

Usually the sun keeps away from our north-facing kitchen window, but for a brief time in the morning a few rays creep into the tree and on the feeder just outside the window. The other morning, as I was getting ready to fry an egg, I peeked out and saw the sun lighting up the browns in this American Tree Sparrow' feathers as it nipped at the thistle. The browns were so rich and warm I let out an "ooohhh......" and ran for the camera!

The sun enhanced the brown feathers on this 

tree sparrow, making them glow with warmth.

I will miss this little fellow and his flock because they kept us entertained all winter. After the big snow, we had 20+ eating, flitting, twittering and looking cute daily at the kitchen window feeders. The entire month of February was an American Tree Sparrowfest. All you had to do was glance out the window to find either a small group or the whole flock busily going about their business, which usually involved eating seeds, twittering, or looking up at me as I cracked the kitchen window to listen to them! 

A brave little fellow, he would barely flinch as I cracked 

the kitchen window for better viewing and listening!

I wonder how much longer they will be around…will today be the last day? I’m keeping track. Three were at the feeder this morning, but when I came home late this afternoon, there were none. In their place will come the Chipping Sparrows, but they are usually not as feeder friendly, preferring instead, the insects found in the grasses in our back yard. That’s okay. I will set up a portable bird blind and watch the chippy little cuties hopping around scoring invertebrates off the grasses, and I'll snap their pictures in the sun too.

Click here for a previous post on American Tree Sparrows, and a little more information on them.