Little Pleasures

 
These two pictures are left over from Saturday's walk.

It's not that the snow and ice isn't pretty. It really is. But I wanted to share these with you, and so they win for today.

A little surprise like a very early English daisy, Bellis perennis, was easily enough to bring on a smile. I know they are considered by some to be a terrible nuisance in yards, but I love them.



I had to get help to identify the second little treat. I'm just not a very good birder. I saw a bird moving in the grass ahead of me, and it held still long enough for me to get a poor picture (which is a slight improvement on no picture!).

Well, I could do better than little brown bird. I knew it was a sparrow, but which one? My bird guy says song sparrow, Melospiza melodia. If he'd posed for me at a better angle, I would have known. If he'd sung for me, I would have known! I'm much better at botany than birds. Nevertheless, a little spark of spring wildlife was welcome.

	See Song Sparrow
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Common Cuties

 
Actually out and about doing work assignments today. Glad I didn't have too many. (Tomorrow is a different story).

It was nice to see some living creatures, even if they weren't the most spectacular. In fact, both of these animals are pretty much pests. First we have some English or House Sparrows discussing the possibility of some blue sky.



These are alien birds in the US, and because of being introduced pretty much everywhere, are the most widely distributed wild bird in the world.

This fox squirrel didn't want to discuss anything, but he was sure someone had left a sack with some corn in it just for him.


Fox squirrels are larger than gray squirrels, and are generally bullies. Ann Arbor is overrun with them. I don't see as many of them here, so I hope the populations are more in balance because I love our little grays and the black morphs.

But, as I said, today I was just happy to see some critters moving about.

	See Is There a Nut in There?
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