I’m resigned to the fact that winter is here to stay forever this year. We even played Christmas music during dinner the other night in an act of defiance. We got about 4 inches snow plus lots of freezing rain and sleet in that storm that slammed the Great Plains and upper Midwest over the weekend. In Northeast Wisconsin some places saw more than 20 inches of snow and some buildings couldn’t hold the weight anymore and roofs collapsed. Four inches was plenty, thank you.
I was sitting in my office on Sunday when the sweetest bird song came through my little window speaker. I’d never heard this singer before. I ran to the window, and it took me awhile to find him. Out in the live snow globe that was taking place in my backyard I saw not one but three gorgeous Fox Sparrows. They were scratching around under the feeders and in the garden debris and under the shrubs while fresh snowflakes blew wildly in the wind.
Was it a Fox Sparrow I heard? And who would sing in those conditions? A few minutes later one of the birds in the middle of the lawn threw back his head and crooned like it was the most lovely April spring day and not a scene from the Hellmouth of the Arctic Circle.
Fox Sparrows are very large sparrows and such pretty birds with their copper-brown streaks and speckles.
They are rather shy and usually hang out under shrubbery where they hop back and forth in the plant debris to expose insects, but every once in awhile they’ll venture out into the open.
I usually see one or two of the birds each year when they migrate through in spring and fall, but this is the most I’ve ever seen at one time and I’ve never heard one sing before. What a wonderful surprise on such a dreadful day!