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.
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.
The clouds were breaking up over Verstovia when I looked out this evening.
I think this Golden-crowned Sparrow is a first year bird. It may be the one that has been singing frequently for several days.
Two of the sparrows that have been hanging out in the neighborhood recently.