Sparrow Spotting

 On Saturday, I ventured up to Forest Lagoons to check the birding scene.  The previous day, James Holdsworth found a LeConte's Sparrow, so that was a good reason for me to be there. I had not been to Forest in some weeks!

I arrived soon after first light, but a Sarnia birder had already gotten ahead of me.  I soon joined Deryl Nethercott and we carefully scrutinized the sparrows.  There were lots of them!

After about an hour, I spotted an orange-coloured sparrow and thought it was a Nelson's.  Could have been, but I never had a thorough look.  A few minutes later, Deryl spotted a bright LeConte's Sparrow!  We followed it a bit, but then lost it.  Meanwhile  I put out an alert for other birders. Soon, many arrived in search of the furtive sparrow.

We found it again and followed it around.  My photo is highly cropped.

It was obvious there were at least two LeConte's, as the one I did not photograph was not as colourful.  A furtive as they are, there could be more out there.  Who knows if we saw the same one James did the previous day.  They are out there, you just have to dig them out!

The Ammospiza sparrows are my favourite.  I have seen quite a few LeConte's over the years, both in spring and fall.  They are attractive indeed.

spring bird at Rondeau

The similar Nelson's shows more gray.  As you know, Keith McLean C. L. is the premier place to find them in recent years.  Multiple birds there are fairly easy to find in the fall.

We also have the Henslow's Sparrow.  I have seen a number of them in spring migration at either Point Pelee or Rondeau.  True to their nature, they are difficult to find, as they can crawl through grasses like a mouse.

They have almost been wiped off the map in Ontario, especially as breeding birds.  However, their secretive nature may be a factor.  This past summer, a couple were found in Chatham-Kent, perhaps due to the extra effort during the first year of the Breeding Bird Atlas Project.  One pair was actually successful in nesting!  I never got a photo of any of the ones in C-K, but did see the birds at both sites.

The Grasshopper Sparrow is another declining species, obviously due to habitat loss.  There are still quite a few in Lambton and Middlesex, but try and find one in Chatham-Kent in the breeding season!  We always see them in spring migration at Rondeau to some degree, but there is no nesting habitat nearby.

Lastly, Baird's Sparrow, a severely declining species, has been recorded only once in Ontario.  That is a story in itself, as Steve Charbonneau and myself happened to be in the right place at the right time to get in on this sighting.  (See the post on our epic trip to Rainy River!) Rainy River Trip .  

It was early July 1996 in Rainy River district and our trip coincided with John Lamey being there.  John found the bird on July 2, the day after our arrival.  We saw it for four days before we left.  I never had a proper camera at the time, so I drew a quick sketch for my OBRC report.  I remember on one of the days seeing it perched on a wire fence.