Banded Song Sparrow

This morning I was pleasantly surprised to find the white over blue banded Song Sparrow singing in the tree in the yard. The last time I saw him(?) was 10 April, and I’m guessing at that point he departed for points north to nest. As I observed, I had the impression that he may have … Read more

Song Sparrows

20120415_SOSP_Etolin_Street_Donnelly_Yard-3 I went for a walk this morning and saw some Song Sparrows getting in to it along Etolin Street. The recording above is one singing in the Donnelley’s yard, it had been trading songs with another one across the street. I even saw them have a brief physical skirmish sort of in the middle … Read more

Spring Evening

A fairly full day didn’t see me spend much time outside. It was mostly cloudy or overcast throughout the day, and we even got a bit of light rain, our first in a week or so, but only just enough to make the ground wet. I stepped outside this evening and snapped a photo of the Verstovia with the clouds nearly gone from the peak. I also took pictures of two of the several sparrows that continue to hangout among the crab pots in the neighbor’s yard.

I suspect the Song Sparrow(s) that have been there recently are first year birds or females. I have heard one singing, but not the full-on songs from a prominent perch like I’ve been hearing elsewhere in the neighborhood and beyond. The singing has been a more continuous sort – maybe a whisper song? Though it’s quieter than the regular songs, it’s not exactly a whisper. I’m not sure how quiet whisper songs typically are, though. Maybe stage whispers count.

Speaking of Song Sparrows, I checked on my observations for the year and I’m up to 149. Well short of the pace for 1000 by year’s end, but the pace has picked up in the last couple of weeks with all the singing birds. No doubt things will slow down dramatically by late fall, so if I have a hope of getting to my target, I’ll need to get a lot of observations in over the next few months. I started a map with notes on the Song Sparrows I’ve been observing and have been updating it regularly.

Song Sparrow Map

On the 1000 species front, I probably have a similar number so far, but I’ve not been keeping careful count yet, and have many observations (with photos) I need to get recorded.

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View from the House

This entry is part 7 of 24 in the series 2012 Photojournal

Several snow showers moved through today separated by brief clouds breaks with some sun. It was interesting to watch the snow swirl around as the wind blew it over/off the house in various directions. Didn’t really get outside much to speak of today, though I did step out to enjoy one of the cloud breaks … Read more