Lincoln’s Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii)
I mentioned how Lincoln’s Sparrows were being spotted earlier than expected this year in my post about Palm Warblers from this morning (I wrote it yesterday). Sure enough, here’s my September Lincoln’s Sparrow from about 7:30AM today. I love them, and it was beautiful as always, but it is very unsettling to see another so early. Last week RTPI Development Director Linda Pierce sent me this article on Braddock Bay Bird Observatory and their increasingly early records, and one of the species named was the Lincoln’s Sparrow. I will be interested to see if we note a...
Read MoreChipping Sparrow
This is a Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina), one of a few of the species I observed and photographed this past Thursday. The early spring sparrow migrants continue to pour through the region with dozens and dozens of Savannah Sparrows dominating any grasslands, fields, farms and open areas. The Eastern Towhees are calling out from shrub and scrub patches, yards, feeding stations and power line corridors. Winter friends like White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos are starting to wrap up their pushes north for the breeding season. The Field Sparrows have returned to nest right where...
Read MoreNo Migration – Until Now?
Here is an image of last night’s radar taken a little before midnight with strong and heavy avian migration occurring across the Deep South and Gulf Coast. Very few birds made it into the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest, and there was no action in the Northeast. It was yet another night of poor bird movement for us, continuing a pattern and a theme that has persisted for a while this April. We have had lovely weather recently all thanks to northerly-based flows keeping air moving off the land being warmed by the sun as high pressures have been centered over the Great Lakes or Mid-Atlantic. We...
Read MoreBird Migration on Radar – March 31
Here is a radar grab of the eastern United States from just after midnight today with light bird migration occurring from the deep south all the way through Maine. A warm front had lifted through the Northeast while areas of heavy rain and thunderstorms associated with a soon to come cold front stretched across the Midwest. Areas near Georgia into the Carolinas and Delmarva appear to have had moderate migration occurring. At this time of the year we have everything from ducks to wintering friends like the Dark-eyed Junco to early arrivals like Pine Warbler, both kinglets, Chipping Sparrow,...
Read MoreLincoln’s Sparrow
This little Lincoln’s Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii) made me a happy man early this morning as it gave me a look over for a couple of seconds while in the open. It has been around for a few days, avoiding me nonstop. I fired off eight shots and ended up with these two to show for it. The shy and sneaky species is an uncommon migrant that can most often be found in busy sparrow habitats in the middle of October. I hope a Vesper Sparrow will treat me this well sometime this week. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read More
