Swamp Sparrow
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Author Archives: Josh
A Sweet Lifer and a Striking FOY
I came home tonight to observe a strange sight: 10 Pine Siskins on the bird feeder. It was so odd to not have a single one all winter but have them now during migration. By all rights these birds should be gone to the far north by now. They must be birds from further south moving their way north. Since it was a life bird just yesterday, I was still intrigued with them and observed them for awhile. As I watched these birds, a chunky sparrow with a dark head came running out of our front cedar bush. It was new, and I didn’t have to look it up because I had been waiting to see it any day. It was the Harris’s Sparrow!
It was nice to finally get this target bird. Now the challenge and hope was that Evan would see it. I called Melissa and told her to be on the lookout when they pulled in the driveway. She said she didn’t even want to tell him in case it wasn’t there.
Soon enough Melissa and the kiddos got home, and the Harris’s Sparrow was nowhere to be seen. Evan asked me about birds I had seen, and I talked about the Pine Siskins. I held back on the new sparrow because I wanted him to not fret about seeing it. I was confident it would be back. I didn’t have to wait long before I spotted it again and called him over. I pointed to it, and he exclaimed, “Whoaaa…” Without telling him the bird, I asked him what it was. He quickly replied, “The Harris’s Sparrow!” We do our homework around here.
It turns out that we had a few of these around tonight. Here are some shots from the backyard feeder. It’s such a cool looking sparrow.
We continue to have White-crowned Sparrows and White-throated Sparrows. Here is another picture of the White-crowned. 
Someone from the metro described today’s wave of new birds as a floodgate that had been opened. We’re not getting as much as our metro neighbors, but we had some fun visitors tonight. In addition to the Pine Siskins and all the sparrow species, a Yellow-rumped Warbler landed in the yard but disappeared before I could get a picture. It is my new nemesis bird. The best visitor, though, besides the life-bird sparrow, was our FOY male Rose-breasted Grosbeak. For the non-birder, FOY stands for First Of Year. This one even held Melissa’s attention tonight.
Early Birds
It was a beautiful morning when I went out to do my dog chores today. I was constantly looking up to check for anything new in the trees. Migration has been pretty slow in our part of the state compared to the metro area, so I keep expecting to see something new at any moment. After my chores I came in the house and looked out at the front feeder. I saw an LBB come in that looked a little different. I pulled up the binoculars to amplify the low light in the early morning and was pleasantly surprised to find the Pine Siskin – a life bird and winter visitor that eluded us these past several months! I spent a lot of time scanning through dozens of redpolls and goldfinches for this bird all winter but was never able to observe one. It should not have been a difficult bird to get, but it was for us. Imagine my surprise to find it now in May when it should be long gone to the north by now.
After confirming my sighting with a photograph, I hustled into Evan’s room where he was still sleeping at 6:10. Evan has always been a bear to wake up. It usually takes both of us several trips into his room to try to wake him. Some days we’ve literally dragged him out of bed. I knew it would be different today. I put my hand on his shoulder and whispered, “Evan, we’ve got the Pine Siskin.” His eyes bulged open, and he flew out of bed. He got to see it and add it to his life list too.
It was a fun way to start the day. We start to get twitchy when we go for more than a day without getting a new life bird. That’s the fun of getting into this sport and being in the midst of spring migration – you never know what you’ll see next, and you usually don’t have to wait long to get a new bird. As much fun as it is to find life birds (I realize that is mostly all I write about), I also appreciate not seeing everything as we experience migration for the first time. Those unseen birds give us something to look forward to for the next season. The hunt and the hope of a new bird is almost as much fun as seeing a new one.
Besides seeing new birds, it is always fun to see familiar birds and appreciate their beauty and behaviors. Tonight I had to travel with Steve for a meeting in Marshall. Of course we had to stop by a marsh right off the highway on the way home to do a little birding. I finally got a picture of the Yellow-headed Blackbird and the Red-winged Blackbird. They splashed the dull marsh with fabulous color.
Blue-winged Teal are also fun to see in the evening light.
Steve also pointed out a life bird for me – the Wilson’s Phalarope. This bird was extremely close but would not sit still for me. I told Evan tonight that I’m going to have to find another one with him so I can get a better picture.
Angry Birders
Yesterday our birding plan was to get up and go on a naturalist-led birding walk at Sibley State Park. We woke up to temps in the high 30s with a mist coming down. There was no way I wanted to go out in this weather, let alone drag a 6-year-old out there. So I pulled the plug. It’s a good thing I did because shortly afterward Evan started throwing up. No birding this day. Steve was on the birding walk and reported that there was no bird action at the park. For once we didn’t miss out.
I later met Steve at the Wild Bird Warehouse which was having an open house that day. I needed some seed, and since everything was on sale today I headed in to check it out. I visited with the owner for a bit, and he told me about the sparrow action he had at the feeders outside of his store. One of them is one we’re after – the Harris’s Sparrow. This particular sparrow only passes through our area during migration on its way north. After chatting for a bit with Randy and Steve, I made my way back home.
As the day went on, Evan seemed okay, so I asked if he wanted to take a short car ride and watch the feeders at the bird store from the comfort of the car to find our Harris’s Sparrow. He didn’t want to. He must have been really sick.
This morning we woke up with a different kid. He was healthy, hungry, and full of life again. Since we had to run errands in town, we decided to do a little birding as a family before doing errands. We were going to go to the Bergquist Nature Area in Willmar and then go to watch the feeders at the bird store. Getting two kids out of the house was like trying to move a herd of turtles. At one point Evan refused to wear a coat because it interfered with his birding vest. This was a major issue and before long he was in an all-out tantrum. Melissa and Marin went to town to do the errands. I stayed home with the screamer. No birding today. The anxiety of not finding a new bird for a few days now was growing, especially with increased reports on MOU-Net of all kinds of returning birds.
Evan eventually calmed down and came out of his room, but I was very frustrated. His actions not only affected him today but me also. The kid did his time in his room and was happily playing afterward. I was still miffed – he seemed to be very content to just play. It appeared I was the one being punished. So I talked with him and told him that I still wanted to go to these feeders but his behavior caused us to miss out on the Bergquist Nature Area as a family. Because I wanted to go to the feeders, I had no choice but to bring him with me. I also told him that we’d stay as long as I wanted and that he should just be happy to still get to do something birding-related today.
With that drama behind us, we headed to the bird store. We were treated to all kinds of sparrow activity today. I was searching for the Harris’s Sparrow but was happy to find the Lincoln’s Sparrow, which we weren’t able to photograph a couple days previously.
There were actually about a half dozen of these that we were watching. Then I saw a much darker sparrow appear, and I quickly shifted to this new subject for my photography. It was our lifer, the Swamp Sparrow!
We were delighted to see the Song Sparrow shown in the foreground below with the Swamp Sparrow in the background.
It was fun to see the White-throated Sparrow shown below. We also saw the White-crowned Sparrow, the Fox Sparrow, and the House Sparrow. It was a 7-sparrow stop! Hopefully we’ll find the Harris’s soon. As fun as the Swamp Sparrow was, that bird is a resident in the summer so there was no worry about getting it. Our window of time is closing for Harris’s, and the anxiety continues to build. Hopefully we don’t add to that anxiety by our behavior like we did today.
Photo Proof
It is said that chance favors the prepared. Well, today was full of chances at viewing life birds, and I was not prepared. There is very little I could have done about my first life bird of the day, the Yellow-headed Blackbird. I was on my way to work, and I was late. I spotted these birds on the shoulder of the busy highway I travel. There was no way I could stop. It was neat to get this one that Evan got the other day, but as with many other birds, I still needed a picture. A good picture clinches a life bird. It is both proof of a sighting and a trophy to behold.
When I got home, Steve had called saying he had a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Orange-crowned Warblers, and Lincoln Sparrows in his yard – all would be life birds. He also had Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Yellow-rumped Warblers – two species that we’ve seen but haven’t yet captured with a picture. It was a bird bonanza at his house. Evan and I had to go check it out.
We got to his house, and the three of us and Steve’s two dogs crowded around a singular glass door overlooking his back yard trying to identify tiny birds at the tops of trees at the end of his lot. It’s kind of funny how life can be unpredictable. If someone had shown me a picture of this scene a year ago and said it was in my future, I would have been really confused. A year ago I wasn’t chasing birds, I didn’t know Steve, and I would have wondered what the five of us were viewing so intently. I was relying on my camera to look at birds because they were far out, and I hadn’t brought a pair of binoculars. We didn’t have to wait long to see what Steve had reported. I was able to get this picture of the Orange-crowned Warbler, a life bird, just before my camera battery died.
Argh! Not only could I not clinch any more action with photos, but I also couldn’t see anything unless it was close. I had to use my naked eyes to view the swarm of Ruby-crowned Kinglets in the pine tree. Then we were fortunate to have the Lincoln’s Sparrow come to the feeder right off the patio. It was awesome for Evan and I to see another life bird. It killed me to see it in perfect light so close and not do anything about it. Later on Steve identified the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. It was way out there. Steve lent me his binoculars, but it was gone by the time I could focus them. Evan didn’t even see it flitting in the tree.
When we were leaving, Evan said that I got three life birds and that he only got two. He didn’t want to count the Gnatcatcher. He has his own integrity for his sightings. Sound isn’t enough, and he has to see them with his own eyes. I knew he was bummed about this, so I said I wasn’t really counting it on my list. I didn’t get a good enough look at it. I need my photo proof. It was a great day of lifers, regardless; and it was nice of Steve to think of us and invite us over to help us with our life lists.
At least my camera was working for this photo-op of a pair of Blue-winged Teal I saw at the school pond today.
I don’t want to be unprepared again. I’m going to order a second camera battery. While I’m at it, I better make sure I have another SD card as my first has over 1500 images on it. Birds have wings – you never know what will show up or how long they’ll stay. Next time I’ll be ready.
Orange-crowned Warbler
Lincoln’s Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Perfect Timing, Mr. White-crowned Sparrow
If you read our last post,One Good Tern Deserves Another, then you will know that Evan incorrectly identified the White-throated Sparrow as the White-crowned Sparrow. Well, this afternoon when I was home alone I happened to be looking out the window when the White-crowned Sparrow dropped by the birch tree out front! I had to do a double-take to make sure I wasn’t seeing yesterday’s White-throated Sparrow. This was a life bird for me and a new yard bird. Evan was on his way home, and I was hoping the bird would still be around when he got there. Here are a couple of pictures I took while I waited for Evan.
Do you see how easily it can be misidentified as the White-throated Sparrow? Below is a picture of the White-throated Sparrow from yesterday so you can see how closely they resemble each other. The White-throated has the yellow patch by the eye, a conspicuous white throat, and a dark bill. The White-crowned lacks the yellow patch and white throat and has a pink bill.
The sparrow disappeared while I watched. Evan still wasn’t home. I was a little worried. I looked a little later and was relieved to now see two of them feeding on the ground by our tree. I saw the van coming down our street, so I went outside to point the new sparrows out to Evan. By this time they had flushed into the tree. When the van door opened and I could explain what was going on, the two birds flew away into our bushes before he saw them. I told Evan to go wait on the living room couch and just watch out the window. He did, and he was pretty sad. He didn’t think he’d get to see them. I bet we didn’t even wait 5 minutes before they came back. Whew! Later on we had three of these birds scratching the ground looking for seed.
Life birds are more fun when shared, and they are even better when they are also new yard birds. This was our seventh species of sparrow to come to the yard since we’ve started watching birds. There are a few more species of sparrows that have returned to Minnesota this spring that we have yet to see. We are hoping the Harris’s Sparrow will decide to visit any day. I no longer think sparrows are boring. They’re actually pretty cool.
