More Sparrows, Part 2

January 7, 2014

I am linking up with Wild Bird Wednesday and Nature Notes

It is very cold and windy, I hope everyone stays war and safe.. And I am wishing for warm weather to show up soon..

I am doing a second part to my previous Sparrow post..These photos are mostly from archives. Except a more recent shot of the House Sparrows..I read there are 35 types of sparrows..I have only just begun.. not sure where I am going to find all these sparrows..

Savannah Sparrow

This Savannah Sparrow was seen on the Delaware Shore.

The Sparrows are one species of bird that are hard for me to id.. So many sparrows look alike and the females make id-ing hard. I think this Dickcissel looks similar to the Savannah above.. They are found in different habitats, the beak looks different.

Edited: I found that what I thought was a Grasshopper Sparrow was actually a Dickcissel.. It looks like the sparrows.. SORRY!!

The snow has brought a lot of House Sparrows to my feeders.. I can look out and see 10 or more at a time.. They are year round birds and seem to be plentiful..

Swamp Sparrow

My only shot of the Swamp Sparrow was found in almost the same spot as the first bird above on the Delaware Shore. I have more Sparrows to share like the Song Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow and a LeConte's Sparrow.. There is also the Rufous-collard Sparrow seen in the Caribbean. I have a lot more sparrows to find and id..so more Sparrow post to come later.

Thanks for stopping by my post and for all the nice comments.. Have  a happy week and stay warm..

Join in and post your birdies and to see more beautiful and wonderful bird photos please visit:
 Stewart's Wild Bird Wednesday and Michelle's  Nature Notes.  Thanks to our host Michelle our host Stewart.  Happy Birding and have a wonderful week!

Taking the back roads

I am linking up with World Bird Wednesday  and  Nature Notes

I wish all my USA readers a safe and very HAPPY 4th of JULY!!

 The weekends seem to be flying by, just like the birds. Just a  few weeks ago hubby and I decided to take a Sunday drive on the back roads of Carroll County, Maryland.  Following the lead of many Maryland birders before me... I headed out to see my first Dickcissel.

From the backside one would think this is your usual little brown bird. The adult male has a gray crown and nape contrast with yellow washed supercilium ( I still call them yellow eyebrows). It also has a black throat stripe and a yellow breast which is actually beautiful. Of course when he turned around my camera wasn't ready for a shot. But, I did get to see the front of this beautiful Dickcissel. He was posing nicely... right were he was suppose to be, at least the last reported sighting. You should really check out Wikipedia's Dickcissel so you can see how pretty he really is.

He would repeatedly fly down to the ground I guess to catch a bug and then fly back to sign for awhile. I watch for a few minutes until a truck drove down the road behind me. So, I drove to the end of the road so I could turn around to go back to see the Dickcissel. Another bird caught my attention on another sign at the other end of the road. I thought maybe I was looking at a female Dickcissel so I took a few photos before driving back to the original Dickcissel.

I posted my bird or what I thought was my female Dickcissel on my facebook page so members of my bird club could see.. when they informed my second bird was a Grasshopper Sparrow. The Grasshopper Sparrow has a pale white central crown stripe, yellow lores, white eye ring, heavy bill and a chunky body.  Cool..lifer number two..I was happy with my sightings, my next back road bird will be a Bobolink maybe during the fall migration?

 And here is the street where they live...


 So, to my delight I got two lifers on one street. The Dickcissel and the Grasshopper Sparrow. So believe me when I say it pays to ride the back roads. You never know what you might see...Happy Birding!!!



To see more beautiful birds check out Springman's World Bird Wednesday  and for more nature scenes please visit Michelle's Nature Notes.   Thanks to Springman for hosting World Bird Wednesday  and to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes. I also thank you for stopping by to see my world birds. Happy Birding and have Happy 4th of July!!