Fox Sparrow visitor

I stood at the kitchen sink talking to my sister on the phone.  The wind was howling around the house and the thermometer read 6F.  The neglected rusty brown oak leaves in the backyard were swirling and dancing in the gale.  I squinted; one of those blowing leaves appeared to be doing the double-footed backward scratch. I had had White-throated Sparrows on and off for the past few weeks, but this was bigger and oak leaf colored.  I stopped listening to the chatter about home, food and her new haircut as I searched for the binoculars.  “Uh huh,” I answered without listening.  I had lost the bird amidst all the leaves.  I lowered the binoculars.  The bird had moved close to the house.  It was a large rusty red Fox Sparrow.  Cheese, I couldn’t remember the last time I had seen one.  I was trilled.  I watched it peck the ground, doing his signature back step as my sister went on, and on.  When I got off the phone I went out to throw some seed on the ground, hoping it would stay around.  Later that afternoon I noticed that there were 2 birds not one.  They were skittish, flushing when a squirrel hopped over to investigate the seeds, or a Blue Jay horned in on the bounty.  If I opened the French doors to the deck, they would fly.  I resorted to trying to take their picture through the glass.  I hope they hang around.