Old Sam Peabody-Peabody

This is the song of the White-throated sparrow, pictured here. The white-throats spend their summers north of us and return here in early October each year to spend the long winter. Their song is a sweet, musical whistle which sounds like Old Sam Peabody-Peabody, or some would say like Oh Sweet Canada-Canada. I don't know that I can hear either mnemonic in their song, but I can tell you that it is one of the prettiest songs you're likely to hear on a fall day in my part of the country.

Thank you for the kind words yesterday. I'm not quite sure why I took the discovery of the wounded little raccoon quite so hard, but it really got to me in a big way. I have a call into the animal control but haven't yet heard back. So, I don't know yet if the little raccoon is being treated or if he was euthanized. I will let you know when I find something out. In the meantime, I am taking comfort in knowing that whichever the case, he won't suffer unnecessarily. And while I hope for the best, I fear the worst as his injuries were quite bad.

The weather is gusty with showers today, so I only got out for a short while this morning. Long enough though to see my second white-throat of the season, as well as several very lethargic bees, a chipper katydid (doing what katydids do), blue jays, goldfinches and a squirrel. Six shots posted on Flickr, starting here.

I'm very happy to report that hubs came home with a trophy for Second in Class in the 4-hour endurance race. He got home just before 11 last night, exhausted but grinning from ear to ear. And so concludes another race-season for the He-Man Racing Team. (Yes, that is really their name - racing with a sense of humor). Now they have about 5 months to get the car all ready for next season.

Happy Monday.

Debbi