sparrow, sparrow again

Sparrow

Sparrow again!

This sparrow is the most common bird in our yards; they are everywhere. Still, I think his nut-like colors are handsome.  A common bird can be handsome, yes?

The female house sparrow is below.

Sparrow

albino bird, sparrows, and red-headed woodpecker

albino bird among sparrows

Some birds are more special than others.

Red-headed woodpecker, whenever he appears in our yard, stops me cold, for a good long time I watch.  Fred Astaire in a smartly tailored tuxedo and bright red fez of the bird world. Simply stunning.

For the second year, albino bird has come into our yard, flitting and pecking around the feeders in the company of sparrows. Albino is slender and slightly dun on the head, blackless on the primary featheres and tail--surely not a Bunting then, and probably a female. Probably a "partial albino," because her eyes and beak are not red or pink. She is not bullied, as some odd birds are; she seems to be another sparrow. Except that she is a special bird. My eyes go to the sparrows around her only to compare: is she slightly larger? does she feed, does she move in the same way as the sparrows? I look for her in the yard, and when weeks, months, go by I wonder if she is lost. My spirit hops when she reappears.

Here is a little painting I have done of albino bird (white sparrow) among the sparrows. It is gouache and graphite and pastel on paper.

Sketches of Red-headed woodpecker and white sparrow are in the next (previous) blog entry. These sketches are lost, try as I might to find them. At least I have the photos. Still, I will have some bit of joy to see the originals again, if they reappear.

sparrow

Sparrow sketch: 07. 19. 2009: Ubiquitous, yes, these sparrows. They are all around us in our yard and in our neighborhood. They are said to be bad, alien, crowders-out of other birds, and worse. The sparrows of course are oblivious to these charges. I've seen no bad action. It is true, though, that they crowd the feeders, that they are many.

I came across a poem last month, entitled A Ubiquity of Sparrows. The poet is Craig Arnold. His poem appears in the summer 2009 issue of Paris Review, where I saw it. Here is the quote that Craig Arnold puts above his poem, under the title:

A certain traveler who knew many continents was asked what he

found most remarkable of all. He replied: the ubiquity of sparrows.

-Adam Zagejewski

Here are three lines from Craig Arnold's poem. The poem is wonderful.

Sparrow whose feet barely sway the twig of a willow

who leaps into the air with the smallest of leaf-shivers

Sparrow the color of dust and mud and dry grass-stems

I start my blog with the sparrows because of the convergence of bird, sketch, and poem: a convergence I am glad about.