Song Sparrows

One of the species I am working on improving ID skills on is the Sparrow and its many groups. Most of the Orlando Sparrows are of the House variety. Those are easy. Several other types live in the state but they are usually in most rural areas until Winter when we get a few new birds hanging out for a while.

In Washington, Sparrows seemed to be everywhere. I added a few new Life birds on the recent trip including some of the Sparrows that are most common in the state. First up for discussion is the Song Sparrow.

Song Sparrows were the most frequently viewed Sparrow on our trip and I already miss them. They are much more likely to pop out of the bushes for good looks and photos and have a wonderful song. Naturally.

The first confirmed sighting came after I took a wrong turn looking for a store and ended up 15-20 miles away in the town of Belfair. I found a trail that was mentioned by my brother-in-law a day or two before. I didn't have time to explore it but I stepped out to listen and look for a minute.

Beyond the flock of Black-capped Chickadees, another new Life bird for the day, was a bird calling from a small tree. I had to scoot around the back side of tree and managed to walk up fairly close to the bird. Wasn't sure what it was at the moment but the shot made the ID pretty easy later.



The next morning, I was able to find them all over the Port Orchard neighborhood and I showed one photo at the feeder spot in the previous post about the new feeder I placed before we left.

We also saw them on every stop throughout the state. Even when I tried to make them into something new like a Lincoln's Sparrow. No luck on that but seeing so many Song Sparrows was and fun bonus.

Last big bird site of the trip was Nisqually and the Song Sparrows were all over the place, too. The first pair were inspecting the reeds in the small pond in front of the visitor center.






We reached the limit of our walk thanks to time constraints so we looped back and I heard a really loud song that ended with a rather metallic ending. I couldn't find the bird but knew it had to be very close. I started to give up the search and nearly walked into the singing bird.

It stayed and sang some more and let me get in one last shot.



Like I said, I miss them already.

There were other birds around that day such as the Golden-crowned Sparrows and I will talk about them next time.
For more info and a sample of the Song Sparrow's song head over to the page for them at the USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter.

Once I get through all of the Washington birds, I will try to remember to discuss some of the Florida sparrows including the Grasshopper and Henslow's Sparrows. After all, those are what I wanted to start this blog experiment with in the first place!

You never know which direction the birds will lead you.