Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Spring Sparrows on the Move

My local patch has been full of sparrows lately – some moving in and other moving out. Song Sparrows have been the most prominent, as migrating birds inflating the usual crowd. The ones that plan to stick around for the summer are busy setting up territories and singing from the highest perches they can find. The Song Sparrow above was perched on top of a giant brush pile. Song Sparrow was the first sparrow I learned to identify (other than House Sparrows), so I always enjoy hearing them.

In the brush nearby, there were several other sparrows. Some of them were Song Sparrows, but there were also a Chipping Sparrow, a Field Sparrow, and two Savannah Sparrows. One of those Savannah Sparrows had what I think is the brightest yellow supercilium I have ever seen on that species. Chipping Sparrows are now singing all over the park, and there are even some Dark-eyed Juncos left.

Aside from the sparrow show, I saw my first Blue-headed Vireo and Northern Parula of the year yesterday.