Nature's Notebook 10-4

write in praise of weedy fields. The unkempt edges of roadsides attract my attention. Vistas of overgrown meadows dense with thorny shrubbery make me stop and stare.

These things, which are the bane of gardeners and often reviled as bastions of invasive species such as European honeysuckle and Russian olive (which they are), interest me both for their subtle palette of colors in the fall and also because they harbor many birds, particularly during the fall and winter seasons.

There is a place I pass every day on my commute to work, just over the border between Sharon and Millerton, where

sparrowsand mourning doves flush from these fields and edges in flocks of dozens and dozens. The flocks are probably made up of our common species — chippingand song sparrows— but I wonder as I drive by if there may be some less common types among them, such as field sparrows, or even a rare vesper, Lincoln’s, or clay-colored sparrow.

(Note to self: Pull over and scan flocks with binoculars!)

Most of these sparrows are migrating south from now through mid-October, and weedy fields are where they take cover and find seeds to fatten up on as they head on their way. Expanses of fields are also excellent places to find

eastern bluebirds, northern harriers (a hawk), and American kestrels(our smallest falcon). Shrubbier areas are preferred by brown thrashers, while dense, low-lying brush is where an occasionalring-necked pheasantcan be found.

So let’s hear a cheer for weedy fields!

Notes here and there:

Allison Sok of Lakeville reported an encounter with a perched northern goshawk.

"It was a magnificent hawk and really awe-inspiring to see so close," she wrote. And for good reason — the northern goshawk is the largest of our three species of accipiters, or "true hawks" (the others are the

sharp-shinnedand Cooper’s hawks).

Even as the steady stream of southbound

monarch butterflieswas diminishing by late September, they were surpassed by a torrent of another migratory species, the cloudless sulfur. This beautiful butterfly is smaller than a monarch and a bright orange-yellow this time of year.

Fred Baumgarten is a naturalist and writer. He can be reached at fredb58@sbcglobal.net. His blog is at thatbirdblog.blogspot.com.