First of Season...

I don't recall seeing an American Tree Sparrow this early in the season, although I may just not have noticed.  These tiny sparrows spend their winters in southern Canada an the  northern part of the US; and breed in northern Canada up into Alaska.  At a quick glance, they might be mistaken for a Chipping Sparrow until you start to notice the subtle differences.  Anyhoo...I spotted this one today when I took a short walk along a nearby lake.  It posed nicely for me in perfect light with a lovely blue sky behind it - the only edit needed was a bit of a crop.  Other sightings today... bald eagle, hairy woodpecker, bluebirds, cardinals, song and white-throated sparrows, juncos, titmice, and chickadees.  Not a bad outing.

I spent the morning in the kitchen whipping up several appetizers for tomorrow.  We are headed up to the Catskills in NY to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with friends and I've been tasked with bringing the pre-meal snacks.  After scouring the web for some interesting recipes, I decided on bacon-wrapped sweet/spice stuffed jalepeno peppers, a whipped feta dip with fresh oregano and a roasted cauliflower/tahine dip.  Happy to report that all three came out really yummy and will go perfectly with the Prosecco and home made-pita chips that we are also bringing.  

Internet will be dicey tomorrow, so I will most likely back-blip on Friday when we are back.  

To all of my friends in the US, I wish you a very happy Thanksgiving; to all of my friends in the rest of the world, I wish you a very Happy Thursday!  

Cheers.