Bird is the Word

Come Hither to my mad garden! When I retired six years ago, I began gardening in earnest, and began learning to weld metal garden sculptures. This is the first thing I made - a bird. Her name is Heather, and she says, "Come Hither!" Yes, there is a Yon.

Perhaps Heather is sparrow, perhaps not. Her field marks are not that clear. However, there are sparrows all about - my friends the crowned sparrows have returned. This morning they were eating birdseed scattered beneath the feeders. I have been planting fall vegetables - bronzy lettuces, dark red pac choi, snow peas, burgundy-colored mustard - and I know their furtive feathered ways. They will eat everything if I let them. I am covering my plantings with floating row cover material. Are they Golden-crowned or White-crowned Sparrows? When they arrived, I was too sleep-blurry to grab my binoculars, and without my glasses I couldn't tell. I found a useful web site for learning the common birds in our California gardens: http://www.americanbirdguide.com/wordpress/?p=44 (Birding Sonoma County). When I have my glasses on tomorrow morning, I'll use this to help.