I am linking up with World Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes
On Saturday, I added the Le Conte's Sparrow to my life list. I had been watching my listserve when I noticed the Le Conte's Sparrow was being seen at the local Irvine Nature Center. This bird breeds in Canada and winters in the South Eastern United States as far west as central Texas and as far north as central Illinois. Certainly no way near Maryland, it must have made a wrong turn somewhere.
The Le Conte's Sparrow is a small sparrow with a large head, with a short gray bill and short pointed tail. It has a buffy-orange yellow face, gray cheeks and a dark crown with a white central stripe. The neck has chestnut streaks, the back is streaked with brown and beige. Its belly is off white and the sides are buffy orange yellow with dark brown streaks.
This Le Conte's Sparrow enjoys moist open grassy areas with sufficient vegetation to provide cover. It's diet is seeds of grasses in the winter and insects in the summer.
51 comments:
What a magnificent capture! I so appreciate your educational bits too - always a delight to visit you!
I like really the Le Conte's Sparrow, I never heard of it before, a first. Thanks Eileen.
Good for you, so glad you were able to add this little beauty to your Life list!
blown off course, just for you to spot! :)
How exciting, Eileen! It's wonderful that you were able to see and photograph this cutie... and add it to your life list!
Ooh awesome- I love a good sparrow! Congrats on the lifer, glad you were able to document it.
I know how special that is to see that little Le Conte Sparrow --especially when he is out of his territory. I'll be curious to hear if anyone else in your area has seen one this year. Surely, he's not all alone...
Keep us posted--if you hear anything.
Hugs,
Betsy
These are amazing shots ....,
great observation, ...
Greeting Karin
Nice post!
I wish you a happy WBW!
Nice capture!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.
Congratulations on your latest "lifer". Great photos too.
Beautiful sighting and nice pictures! Well done. Seeing the landscape where it was seen, it was probably not that easy to find it...
Good on you for getting a lifer. My daughter is an avid birder so I know how important a lifer is. Me? I just take pictures and never know what it is I took a picture of until I try to ID it in my guide book...and even then I remain confused at times. So I check it out with my daughter before naming names on my blog.
Congratulations on the lifer! And how lucky for you that it got off course somehow. Thank you for sharing another one of your amazing birds with us.
Such a sweet little sparrow! :)
What a sweet bird Eileen, very lovely!!! have a great week~
Congrats on the lifer Eileen! What a pretty little sparrow. The Le Conte's Sparrow would be a lifer for me too!
Good capture!!!
Regards,
such a pale colored sparrow. Congrats to the lifer. :)
how exciting eileen, good thing for no leaves ;)))
Oh I wish I could remember all of this fantastic description of the Le Conte' sparrow! So pretty..
Great, lucky for you he was well off his usual path. Very different look for a sparrow.
Wonderful opportunity for you to add this bird to your lifer list, and especially nice that it was close to home.
How cool is that! You saw where they had been spotted and then went and not only saw one but got pics as well.
Lovely shots as well!
Congratulations on your find! You must have been really excited to find one in your neck of the woods.
What an amazing find, he is a very pretty little bird. I'm reasonably sure I will not see one here on the West coast. Congrats on this addition to your life list.
Congratulations on the Le Conte's Sparrow, Eileen! That's very cool to add another bird to your life list.
What a great little bird - congrats on the lifer!
Cheers - Stewart M
Interesting post about the Le Conte's sparrow. You got some good shots of it too.
Well done - good shots as well - he is a new bird to me I must look him up - have a good week - Jane UK
Always amazed to see something new. I've never heard of them and I'm glad I stopped by today. Nice captures!
Congrats!!! Cute little sparrow and your photos are great :)
He does look like a special sparrow. Hope he gets what he needs if he's in a different environment.
Oh always nice to catch a lifer.. I hope the little guy or girl gets back home..Thank you for linking to Nature Notes Eileen....Michelle
Superb post Eileen! Such a sweet wee bird and a beautiful place!
What an adorable little bird. A wonderful addition to your bird list.
It's a very distinctive sparrow Elieen and a good lifer where you live. Well done on seeing the bird and getting such good pictures of it.
What lovely captures, the sparrow so sweet and beautiful, and the field looking very serene.
Wonderful post Eileen! Congratulations!
It is a cute bird! Guess what I missed seeing -- a snowy owl. There was one spotted near Kittanning, PA. I was on my way back to Warren from the Pittsburgh area. I drive through Kittanning. I read about the snowy owl's appearance in the Kittanning area, after I returned home.
he's a cute little fellow
Congratulations, it's a pretty little bird.
You are one lucky lady!!! Glad you were able to see this bird. I have not, but one never knows:) Hope you are having a good week. Chris
Gorgeous captures!
Hi Eileen, Congratulations on your sighting! Have an excellent day tomorrow!
oh thanks for sharing the identity, am such a poor bird identifier, i may have a picture of this one but did not know the name :) and beautiful image of the meadow with the trees slowly coming back to life.
Such a sweet little bird! Congratulations on the sighting.
Congrats on the lifer! You did a fair bit of research on this ID, well documented!
Beautiful captures of the sparrow.
congrats on your latest lifer!
what a pretty little sparrow!
it amazes me how you can ID each one!! i get so frustrated sometimes...in certain species...like the sparrow...there are just SO MANY!!
thanks for the great pic's and all the info!
absolutely gorgeous captures, eilleen. the little sparrow is so beautiful, i really enjoyed your post.
hope you hyave a great rest of the weekend.
xo
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