Fair Weather

A beautiful day weatherwise.  I was too tired to go any distance today, and where would one go anyway.  Not a lot of birds around in this nice weather!  I just went for walks in a couple of conservation areas north of Wallaceburg today.



 Lots of asters (not Short's!) and goldenrods in bloom brightening up the countryside. Some Buckeyes, crescents and commas were flying around taking advantage of the warm weather.
I noticed a fair number of Black-capped Chickadees around.  A couple even moved through the yard this afternoon.  Perhaps there is a movement happening right now.

Hermit Thrushes are on the move, as I saw several in Reid CA this morning.  Some Swainson's are still around as well.
One must check out those sparrows closely.  I learned a bit about Le Conte's Sparrows on the weekend as I apparently found an immature.  It sure looked like a Grasshopper, but I must admit the streaking did bother me a bit.  A similar bird was found at De Laurier parking lot as well, and photographed by Alan on Saturday.  I talked to Kevin McLaughlin yesterday about it, and apparently he had not seen that (imm.) plumage before either.  It was an interesting learning experience!

Ammodramus sparrow