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Sparrow Sketches. Waiting for Bonnie to Blow over.

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Saturday 24 July 2010

Sparrow Sketches. Waiting for Bonnie to Blow over.

Yesterday we caught the tail end of tropical storm “Bonnie”. It flew in and flew out spinning the pine needles, carving runnels in the sandy soil with torrential downpours and blowing away, for the umpteenth time, the sparrows nest. 

The sparrows build their nest on top of one of the mock plaster columns which front the apartment entrance. We can see this little family and their comings and goings from our first floor kitchen window and  I have watched them build and rebuild this nest a dozen times. It  was the same last year.

Yesterday it blew away three times, got tangled up in the nearby bush and was doggedly retrieved bit by bit, but  “Bonnie” was, truly, the last straw. She snatched the bundle of twigs and trailing grass and whisked them high and wide and away out of sight.

I have long wanted to record these very sweet little birds and yesterday while the rain and wind raged about, the sparrows sat disconsolately on the bare cornice of their home, sheltered from the storm and  looking round for their lost nest. It was a good opportunity for some sketches.

sparrow sketches sm jpg

sparrows sitting out the storm sm

Part of the nest must be tucked in the hollow of the column’s capital, enough to make it worth persevering with anyway, because, sure enough, this morning the sparrows are back, optimistically rebuilding and chirruping happily. I am thinking of suggesting a beginners course in structural engineering to them…more of this nest and the sparrows soon.

_________________________________________________________

Him…and …

 sparrow1 

Her….

sparrow f sm

…just sitting out the storm. 

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4 Comments:

Blogger Curbstone Valley Farm said...

Beautiful sketches, you captured them perfectly. I'm sorry to hear that Bonnie destroyed the nest, but birds can be remarkably resilient and it sounds like they'll have another nest built in no time.

24 July 2010 at 18:26  
Blogger Jill said...

I love your sketches and study as I love watching the sparrows on my feeders. They come zooming in doing a handbreak turn, then chirrup noisily away. They are exellent parents and Mr Sp is kept busy feeding the youngsters as they learn to balance on the feeder perch.

24 July 2010 at 18:36  
Blogger Threadspider said...

They are charming little birds and as you suggest, hope springs eternal.Lovely illustrations capturing their charm.

24 July 2010 at 22:45  
Anonymous kate dolamore said...

I love the sketches. And the whole story is very sweet. I was especially excited to see this bit about sparrows because I just finished my own painting of sparrows.

25 July 2010 at 05:32  

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