In Spain’s Basque Country, Bihotz Cafe Brings Specialty To Bilbao

If there’s just one Basque word you remember, let it be bihotz. That means “heart” in the language of an estimated million people living across northern Spain, a swath of southwest France, and even Boise, Idaho—and it is the name of the one cafe not to miss in Bilbao.

Craft-beverage-crazed couple Cristina Mairal and Pedro Sainz opened Bihotz in December 2014. The two Spaniards moved to the Basque Country’s capital to “start a new life” and because “we love the city,” says Mairal. Uncoincidentally, they met in the nation’s specialty coffee epicenter, Barcelona, where Sainz regularly patronized the first iteration of Satan’s Coffee Corner and eventually found himself taking barista lessons from owner Marcos Bartolomé.

Bihotz’s façade blends in with the terracotta-toned buildings of hilly San Francisco. The gentrifying neighborhood is a 15-minute walk from Bilbao’s medieval quarter, over the Nervión river, though away from the glare of the Guggenheim Museum. A modest blade sign hangs above the shaded street to advertise the cafe, its logo a chainring encircling two crossbones-style portafilters.

Inside, Bihotz is snug, though the vintage-schoolhouse tables and seats are comfortably mixed and matched. Sainz is an avid cyclist, and bike parts and tools are incorporated like readymades. A nook with a communal table and a mantle topped by faux trophy heads could be the set of a Michel Gondry dreamscape. Décor notwithstanding, Bihotz sometimes struggles to attract natives the way it does expats and blogged-in tourists.

“It’s hard for people in the area to [appreciate] what specialty coffee means at the moment. They like coffee and they know something different happens here, but not many people know exactly what they are having,” observes Mairal.

Acclaimed Spanish specialty roaster Right Side Coffee provides the two or three weekly changing single-origin espressos. Framed by the roaster, a featured profile description is proudly displayed atop a Nuova Simonelli Mythos One grinder. Beside it, off-bar, is a La Marzocco Linea PB, its two groups facing towards the customers.

“We’ve got it outside the bar so they can see how we work with it,” Mairal notes of the equipment’s placement. “Sometimes we speak to the people. When they ask for a coffee, we spend two, three minutes explaining.”

For filter, Bihotz relies on Sakona Coffee Roasters, established in 2016 by Spanish barista champion Javier Garcia in the Basque town of Irún. V60 is the preferred method, though such orders remain scarce.

“For Bilbao, doing five, six a week is quite gooood,” Mairal laughs. “We’re happy that we can make [filter coffee] at least once a day.”

Plus, Bilbaínos are inclined to have a quick morning coffee and pastry at their local bar, adventuring to other watering holes after work. This reality dictated Bihotz’s hours, opening 3 PM most weekdays and 11 AM on weekends (though closing at 10 or 11 PM). Moreover, it compelled the couple to begin purveying another long shared love: craft beer.

Turnover in drinks is currently 70% beer and 30% coffee, estimates Sainz. There are six taps, rotated every few days, and 50 different bottles imported from as far away as San Diego, USA (Pizza Port), and as nearby as Hernani, Spain (Basqueland Brewing Project).

But for those seeking still more craft beer, the fiercest competition may well be Mairal and Sainz’s second business, Penguin Bar. Opened in April 2016 in Indautxu—a couple neighborhoods west and levels of chichi up from Bihotz—Penguin has 16 taps, up to 80 bottles, and coffee.

The coffee program is guided by the same principles and suppliers as Bihotz, though each bar tries to offer distinct origins. Penguin is also larger and operates until 2 AM several days a week. Illustrations of penguins vivify the dark walls and 3D-printed penguin skulls cap the tap handles. The atmosphere is Audubon goth-punk, in a good way.

Asked about selecting beers versus coffees, Mairal explains: “The variety of beer styles is massive so it’s a bit harder work, but the concept is the same. We know it’s fantastic ingredients, it’s been worked with love, and [the producers] live for what they do.”

She adds: “It’s the concept we have for our business, and that’s what we want.”

So yes, when in Bilbao, for your new-wave coffee fill, visit Bihotz. But then consider a chaser at Penguin. It’s a rare bird, this venue serving up seriously curated craft beers on the same surface to so heartfeltly handle a La Marzocco Linea PB, two Kyoto-style syphon brewers, and—this is Mediterranean Europe—a huge slab of Parmesan.

Bihotz Café is located at 6 Calle Arechaga, Bilbao. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram. Penguin Bar is located at Gregorio de la Revilla 8, Bilbao. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

Karina Hof is a Sprudge staff writer based in Amsterdam. Read more Karina Hof on Sprudge. 

The post In Spain’s Basque Country, Bihotz Cafe Brings Specialty To Bilbao appeared first on Sprudge.

from Sprudge http://ift.tt/2fNXJKh

Colectivo Coffee Finds A Home In Chicago

Creating a cafe that’s mostly outdoors in Chicago, a town that spends approximately half its year shivering, may seem counterintuitive to most people. But cold-weather veterans Lincoln Fowler and Scott Schwebel of Milwaukee-based Colectivo Coffee Co. are not most people. “We’ve never had an idea that we couldn’t complicate,” says Fowler, who founded the company, known then as Alterra Coffee, with partners Ward Fowler and Paul Miller in 1993. Their first cafe opening beyond the jokingly-disputed Wisconsin-Illinois border is a roomy Lincoln Park indoor-outdoor space meant to continue the vibes of coffee, community, and outdoor gathering the company’s made work so well in Milwaukee and Madison—despite the prevailing weather.

The location realizes years of neighborhood research, operations planning, and a well-adhered-to expansion plan. “We weren’t even looking into Lincoln Park,” says VP of Brand and Marketing Schwebel, who says it was the space itself that found them. “We stood at the corner and asked, ‘Can we feel it?’”Schwebel says. The answer was yes.

The location was a shuttered Einstein Bros Bagels and its accompanying parking lot. In it, the Colectivo team saw potential to create an oasis-like feel on the busy Clark Street corridor a mile or so south of Wrigley Field. Though retail shops, restaurants, and sports bars are legion here, good coffee is considerably less represented. But it seems the Colectivo touch—a knack for bright and colorful patio spaces where customers can gather around fireplaces between darting in and out for continued refreshment—works here. Permanent red umbrellas cover an array of orange tables and red chairs—the funky and fun designs feel alive and intriguing. The fireplace, with an open flame and bench seating, is supremely cozy. Three-season heated awnings accompanied by wood partitions provide shelter from the sun and rain. Housed inside the awnings are huge overhead heat lamps to ward off the cold, a tactic not uncommon in Milwaukee. Though newly opened, the handmade, rustic design of the space delivers the feeling of a weathered and cherished locale.

And then there’s the inside. Once you pass through the burnt-orange front door, the warming aroma of Colectivo’s Milwaukee-roasted coffees permeate the shop, in a range from pleasing blends to feature-farm single origins. Saunter up to the bar and be greeted by a multi-Hario pour-over station, suite of Mazzer grinders, and a powder-blue La Marzocco espresso machine. Ready-to-go coffee is served up in FETCO XTS brewers.

Those paying close attention may recognize Troubadour pastries from shops like The Goddess and The Baker, among others, across Chicagoland. Scones, bread, and ready-made ingredients are transported from Bay View, Wisconsin, prepared with the same attention to detail and craft that one expects from the quality pours happening at the bar. Alongside sparkling and regular water on tap, Colectivo’s popular breakfast burritos with citrus-twisted salsas are available in pesto or chorizo, and everything from protein bars to gluten-free options to blueberry muffins is delivered fresh from the Colectivo commissary kitchen on the daily. Choosing regional purveyors, for items like Door County cherries and Wisconsin-German sausages and cheeses help ease the heavy logistics of keeping this food delivered on-time and fresh.

The cafe, whose name is inspired by the colorful buses that pick up and transport workers in South America, finally opened its doors this spring—roughly six months after the company anticipated. Its dimensionality in look, feel, and storytelling will be trialed in the Windy City through future shops to come—Fowler says two more shops are already in the works, including one in the Logan Square neighborhood. And while the City of Chicago can be a notoriously difficult place to open up shop—delays are frequent, special requests often collide with antiquated regulations—Colectivo’s mission-first coffee mentality, ambitious design, and passion for community have seen them through this opening with flying colors. Those—and maybe a little no-nonsense, weather-hardy Wisconsin determination.

Colectivo Coffee is located at 2530 North Clark Street, Chicago. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Adam Arcus (@aarcusphoto) is a journalist and photographer based in Chicago. Read more Adam Arcus on Sprudge.

The post Colectivo Coffee Finds A Home In Chicago appeared first on Sprudge.

from Sprudge http://ift.tt/2ymmGnV

This Weekend

Our boy and his lovely girlfriend came home...which in itself was delightful. Made me really happy. They went right out for a rainy Saturday, enjoying our woods and fields and just getting out on the land after too much time in big cities here and there. Then Sunday they took me up to Montezuma for a spin around the wildlife drive.

Great Egret Photo by Alan

Finally got Northern Shovelers, which have been eluding me all year, and as we turned the next to the last corner we were treated to a ballet of fifty or so Great Egrets capering among a motley crew of ducks and shorebirds.

Also by Alan

They were literally breathtaking and gasp-and-point inducing. I suppose it is trite to love these huge, clumsy, yet elegant and graceful at the same time, white-feathered birds, but I always get excited when I see one. Seeing that many all at once was wonderful.

Thanks for a great day, kids. I loved it.

from Northview Diary http://ift.tt/2xNAMLI

Starting Out Of State With Denver’s Penrose Coffee

Penrose Coffee’s approach is a little unorthodox: rather than attempting to compete in Denver’s saturated coffee market, its owners, Dustin and Samantha Fuchtman, fancy the business a roaster for out-of-state cafes.

“I am the coffee guy and [Samantha] is a little bit more behind the scenes,” Dustin Fuchtman says. “She has a background in tech web stuff, so she built out our website and did all our design. We both have an eye for design, but she’s the one who knows how to implement that.”

Dustin Fuchtman

Located on the northeast side of Denver, Penrose officially opened at the beginning of 2017. The Fuchtmans is a business partnership that plays perfectly to their coffee and design strengths.

The roasting warehouse is shared by Penrose and Winter Session, a hand-stitched denim and leather goods company—canvas aprons destined to be worn by baristas and bartenders sit on a large worktable, which is flanked by green coffee buckets that line the floor just a few feet away.

Penrose’s roasting setup is barebones and reflective of the company’s youth. There’s a 15-kilo Probat roaster, a corner with a La Marzocco GS3 espresso machine and various brewers for quality control, bags of green coffee sitting on shelves, a Mahlkönig EK43 grinder, and some cupping and bagging equipment. It’s a comfortable space, with high ceilings and concrete floors, friendly roommates, and room for growth.

Dustin worked at Novo Coffee, Happy Coffee, and Middlestate—including in the company’s men’s apparel shop and coffee bar, Steadbrook—before deciding to take the plunge into roasting himself. But the goal for Penrose is focused on offering their coffees to out-of-state cafes, rather than those exclusively in Denver—at least, that is, before they have an opportunity to open a cafe of their own. 

“That’s the goal: do wholesale for now and work into providing coffee for my own cafes,” Fuchtman says. “But right now, if you look at the model of a multi-roaster cafe, it’s usually one or two local roasters offered and then they cycle through out-of-state coffee, and I’m just trying to be that for Denver for other states.”

With a number of already-established roasteries operating out of Denver, it may be a challenge. But Penrose, driven by an emphasis on beautiful design, knows the lane it wants to be in. Where they’ll go is unknown, but maybe for a young roastery that’s enough. 

Penrose Coffee is located at 3833 N Steele Street, Unit C, Denver. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Ben Wiese is a freelance journalist based in Denver. Read more Ben Wiese on Sprudge.

The post Starting Out Of State With Denver’s Penrose Coffee appeared first on Sprudge.

from Sprudge http://ift.tt/2xSnZte

“More Than Just A Milk Girl”—Esther Maasdam Of Manhattan Coffee Roasters

2017 has been a stellar year for Esther Maasdam. In March, the multi-title-holding barista champion, international consultant, and all-round coffee events stuntwoman was crowned Dutch Cup Tasters Champion. This was a new match to master for Maasdam, whose name is so often conjured with her ranking as Dutch Latte Art Champion (from 2011 through 2014, placing fifth in the world in 2013) and her current title as Global Latte Artist for Le Méridien.

But of the tasters competition, says Maasdam, “I loved winning it mainly because people were like, ‘Oh, so you’re more than just a milk girl.’”

With 13 years of professional experience in the coffee industry, including as an authorized SCA trainer, the 31-year-old is definitively fluent in languages other than lactose. And although she didn’t reach the finals at the World Cup Tasters Championship in Budapest this past June, her participation in the category was a harbinger for the exciting new territory she is charting.

These days, Maasdam is cupping coffee with revived zeal—and consequence. In January, she and Australian import Ben Morrow, her partner in life and now business, launched Manhattan Coffee Roasters. Do not be misled by the name: the roastery is located in the Netherlands’ modern port city of Rotterdam.

“The nickname of Rotterdam is ‘Manhattan on the Maas,’” explains Maasdam, referencing the large river that empties into the North Sea. “So it’s a nod to that but saying at the same time that we want to be international; we don’t want to be Rotterdam-only focused.”

Plus, she notes, “It’s gotta be a name that Ben can pronounce, being his own business.”

Maasdam and Morrow

Broadmindedness and empathy are traits Maasdam possesses in quantity, so it is unsurprising that she considers her foreign-born boyfriend’s cultural comfiness. Long known as the “latte art cowboy” and, more recently, the two-time winner of Coffee Masters, Morrow was a barista at St. Ali in Melbourne for five years. The 28-year-old moved to Europe in August 2016, ready for an off-bar coffee job and a more in-person relationship (and in the meantime seems to have gotten the hang of Dutch phonology).

The two became acquainted at a side smackdown event during the 2014 World Latte Art Championship in Melbourne.

“We basically started smack-talking, and he was like, ‘I’ll kick your ass,’ and I was like, ‘No, I’ll kick your ass,’” laughs Maasdam. For more than two years, the Rotterdammer and the Port Hedland native maintained a long-distance relationship. They rendezvoused as frequently as possible at barista contests around the globe. Maasdam says she has “always been competitive,” a jock ever since her days of competing in the 400-meter hurdles at the national level.

Today, the transnational duo’s supranational enterprise has a surprisingly tropical headquarters, in the front of the house at Aloha restaurant. The lively space is part of Blue City, a hub for circular economy startups and urban farming projects—most famously, growing oyster mushrooms from coffee grounds. Formerly the beloved Tropicana waterpark, the venue has a wrap-around back terrace overlooking the Maas River and its iconic bridges. Inside, the furnishings are offset by ornamental stone walls and serpentine water run-offs, long dry. A seal statue still balances a beach ball on its nose, right behind Manhattan Coffee Roasters’ equipment. Aloha received a local award for Best Coffee Concept in 2016 and had been roasting its own beans under the direction of Jamie Jongkind. After he left to work for Nordic Approach, Maasdam and Morrow moved in, agreeing to roast all the coffee Aloha serves and sells in return for use of the Giesen W6 and space for their own roasting, cupping, and training sessions.

Since their founding, Manhattan Coffee Roasters has seen a flurry of activity. The brand-new company was enlisted to roast for Daniella Nyström, a barista at Amsterdam’s Scandinavian Embassy who represented the Netherlands at the World Brewers Cup, as well as for Merijn Gijsbers, the Dutch barista champion. Besides providing Gijsbers with the Panamanian La Berlina Geisha that let him cinch the national title, Maasdam and Morrow served as his coaches and will be doing the same as he prepares for November’s WBC in Seoul.

As for the spread of their brand, the couple is more concerned with quality than ubiquity.

“I don’t think we’re gonna see ourselves in every cafe [in the Netherlands] probably, but to be able to get in some great cafes all over Europe, that would be fantastic,” says Maasdam. “We mainly wanna focus on high-end coffees. There’s a fair amount of specialty roasters in the Netherlands that are doing really great, but everybody is really sticking to those base-level coffees.”

Recipients of Barista Hustle’s Superlatives subscription got an early taste of Manhattan Coffee Roasters in June. That month at the World of Coffee, Morrow was handing out very fresh, juicy calling cards in the form of their Kirinyaga Kii, a washed SL28 & SL34 varietal supplied by 32Cup.

Maasdam and Morrow have been happy to find they are as calibrated professionally as they seem to be personally. “We went through this period of time where we were discovering where our palates were and if we were in agreement. And we didn’t know at the start if we were going to be, if that was gonna work out,” says Maasdam. “But every time we’ve had a [cupping] table, we’ve been in super agreement on which coffees we like. We’re at the point where we trust each other. If either one of us says, ‘This is great; we have to buy it,’ the other one’s like, ‘OK.’”

At home, the couple lives with an adopted cat, Geisha. She was named by her previous owner not after the coffee, but rather the variety of Japanese entertainer. Maasdam and Morrow take turns making the morning coffee, mostly using Kalita or V60 preparation methods; the individual who does not get out of bed to brew gets to select the beans. On an average day, they ride their bikes together to Aloha.

Although Maasdam happens to have studied graphic design, she asked her friend Jessica de Ligt of Goddog to create the Manhattan Coffee Roasters logo. In clean white lines over a salmon-colored circle, it depicts Rotterdam’s Erasmus Bridge. Nicknamed The Swan, the part cable-stayed, part drawbridge is a flexible, elegant manner to cross the Maas.

Speaking of that body of water, Maasdam confirms that she, like their cat, has an uncannily appropriate name. “Yeah, it’s ‘the dam at the Maas,’” she gives as the literal translation of her Dutch surname. “So I’ve not gone far from my roots. This river is my roots.”

Manhattan Coffee Roasters is located in Aloha at Maasboulevard, 100 Rotterdam. Visit their official website and follow them on Instagram.

Karina Hof is a Sprudge staff writer based in Amsterdam. Read more Karina Hof on Sprudge. 

The post “More Than Just A Milk Girl”—Esther Maasdam Of Manhattan Coffee Roasters appeared first on Sprudge.

from Sprudge http://ift.tt/2x9Gnu3

The 2018 US Coffee Championships Prelims: Weekend Three

Over one action-packed weekend in Greenville, Denver, and Washington, DC, brewers and baristas preliminarily competed in competitions, the third such weekend this season. These competitors are on the journey to the much-anticipated US Coffee Championship Qualifiers rounds, happening either this year or early next. From there, the national competition, where only two will be crowned US Brewers Cup and US Barista Champion. We had folks on the ground taking glorious photos of the three events and here they are in full color.

Washington, DC
Photographer: Farrah Skeiky

Participants in Washington, DC crowded Dolcezza Gelato. Absolutely *crowded* it—with over 2,400 tickets registered on EventBrite, this was by far the most attended preliminary in its short history. The coffee community in DC and surrounding areas poured in to witness this spectacle, made possible by the folks at Coffee District. Alexander Gable of Coffee District told Sprudge “[they] just to love to host people and throw parties. When Victor [Vasquez] and I first discovered that the SCA was taking applications from members to host the preliminaries, we signed up immediately because we knew it was going to be rad getting to do this in our hometown. D.C. often gets stigmatized by its obvious political conundrum, gentrification, and downtown tourist attractions, but this place can be magical if you stay out of the way of all that sour milk.”

Sponsors of the event also included Stumptown, Dolcezza, Small Planes, Vigilante, La Marzocco, Modbar, Five Acres Farms, Swiss Water Decaf, Pacific Foods, Curtis Wilbur, and Dim Sum DC Media (who took photos for us during the event!) The preliminary took place during Coffee District’s Coffee Fest, with events across the city. A post-competition feast was provided by Madeline Lewsen of The Dabney and the folks at Tail Up Goat, providing BBQ for the participants, with a case of Susucaru natural wine to wash it all down.

When we asked what made this event special, Alexander Gable said, “I think the space and the people involved made it special. We made a ton of amazing new friends, and all comments about how the event went were geared towards everyone having an exceptionally good time and it being very inclusive, and I think that’s all we could have asked for.”

Cara Nakagawa of Toby’s Estate competes in the Barista Competition.

Jenna Gothelf of Everyman Espresso, the top ranking barista reacts to the announcement in Washington, DC.

Washington, DC Preliminary Barista Competition Results:

Washington, DC Preliminary Brewers Cup Results:

Greenville, South Carolina
Photographer: Lem Butler

Ally Coffee hosted the Greenville “Southern” Preliminaries. A wedding venue was converted into a full-fledged competition arena. Nearly 140 people showed up with over seventy participants. “We chose to host this event because we believe in the power of competitions to advance the coffee industry,” said Ally Coffee US Sales Manager James Tooill. Ally’s support of the competitions goes further than hosting, as they sponsor origin travel prizes at the US Nationals and World level, sponsor green coffee for the US Roasters Competition and World Cup Tasters. When the opportunity to organize a preliminary event presented itself, “it made perfect sense for us to host because we have already been doing so much to support competitions globally that we also wanted to support locally!”

“We had originally planned to host this event as a grand opening party for our new office which is going to be 7,000 sq ft of coffee lab awesomeness,” Tooill explained, “Unfortunately, permitting delays prevented this. It was a lot of work for our team to host this offsite and I’m very proud of Team Ally for pulling it off. Of course, what really made it special was every single person that took the time and energy to build coffee community!”

You can’t host a preliminary on your own, and sponsors Ancap, Mahlkonig, Nuova Simonelli, Due South Coffee, Counter Culture Coffee, 1000 Faces, and Spirit Tea all helped make this event an action-packed, coffee/tea-fueled professional development rager.

Here are the Southern Prelim rankings:

Greenville Preliminary Barista Competition Results:

Greenville Preliminary Brewers Cup Results:

Denver, Colorado
Photographer: Daniel Mendoza

Participants from California, Utah, Arizona, Texas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Kansas took part in the preliminary programming in Denver, Colorado. The Rocky Mountain Craft Coffee Alliance threw the shindig, with the support of Novo Coffee and about twenty coffee companies across the country.

When asked why the RMCCA decided to host, Josh Taves (RMCCA Vice Chair and Quality Control and Business Development Manager at Novo Coffee) told us, “The Rocky Mountain Craft Coffee Alliance’s mission statement is that we are a group focused on developing community among coffee enthusiasts, both consumer and professional, through education, collaboration events, and networking all along the Rocky Mountain region. We felt like we had the ideal vision and reach to be able to host a great event through collaboration with the Rocky Mountain Craft Coffee community and that the USCC Preliminaries would be a great way to showcase the hard work and community spirit of our members.

It wasn’t just competitions—oh, no—beverages were flowing for all with a pour-over booth from Spur Coffee, Nitro Cold Brew from Novo Coffee, and a tea service from Spirit Tea. “Fleet Coffee sponsored a cool party also at a board game bar,” Taves added.

Hosts teamed up with Toddy, Novo Coffee, Huckleberry Coffee Roasters, and Sweetbloom Coffee, Logan House Coffee, Moru Coffee, Loyal Coffee, Morning Fresh Farms. Prizes were furnished by Synesso, Rhino Coffee Gear, AeroPress, Amethyst Coffee, Cherry Roast, Middlestate Coffee, La Marzocco, and Corvus Coffee. Rocky Mountain Craft Coffee Alliance.

For Josh Taves, “the comradery and teamwork spirit of the event brought together a huge array of people, companies, and ideas under one roof for a united purpose and it was so cool to be a part of that.”

Denver Preliminary Barista Competition Results:

Denver Preliminary Brewers Cup Results:

The fourth and last weekend of preliminary events take place this weekend in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Louisville, Kentucky. Follow us on Instagram for the latest from these events!

The post The 2018 US Coffee Championships Prelims: Weekend Three appeared first on Sprudge.

from Sprudge http://ift.tt/2fzF3u9

Will She or Won't She?

Freeze that is. Only the One who controls it all knows for sure. 

Thus decisions must be made. Many of the tender house plants have been brought indoors already. Most of the heirlooms, many of the prettier geraniums, especially Grandma Peggy's old doubles and the ones I've grown from seed over the years. The big jade has been sacrificed, beheaded, uprooted, all in and all done. I was sick of it tipping over its pot and taking up half the living room. I can get a new one going in case I feel like I need a plant with fifty pounds of greenery.

Maybe we skate by at 33 as we already have a couple of times. Hard to say, but there is a frost advisory for tonight, then a stretch of nicer weather to come. Guess I will be hauling plants in and covering the big tomato and the sprawling little purple ones, and whatever else can't come indoors.

I sure hope we don't lose the Heavenly Blue morning glories. No way to protect them and there were EIGHTEEN blossoms yesterday. 18! So pretty.

By way of our little almanac, I spotted the first two winter sparrow species yesterday. In the morning a White-throated Sparrow was hanging out with a bunch of Song Sparrows over behind the barn. Late in the afternoon, a White-crowned Sparrow bopped into the bushes with another little flock of same right in front of the house.

Seems as if Song Sparrows form nuclei, around which less common sparrows gather. All through late summer a single Field Sparrow hung around with the same little SOSP flock behind the barn. Before they left, the very loud chirping Indigo Buntings seemed to serve in same manner, particularly attracting migrating warblers to the good eating spots. 

It is quite a thing to be outdoors these days, what with the colors changing, fall flowers blooming, insects racing to be ready for the silence, and the magical flux of passing migratory birds. I love it. 

from Northview Diary http://ift.tt/2fZk04A