Thursday, October 8, 2015

warm hilights

Today's unseasonably warm weather doesn't disappoint park goers, but sparrows still seem sparse this late into the month. There is a trickle infusion of sparrows but top hilight appears to be the BLUE GROSBEAK and TENNESSEE WARBLER at Butterfly Meadow.


Spurred by Karen O' Hearn's report of the Grosbeak,I noted good activity in Butterfly Meadow. Hard to see in the dense meadow, WHITE THROATED SPARROWS , SONG SPARROWS easily outnumbered EASTERN TOWHEE, and SWAMP SPARROW.Though missing the chance for the grosbeak, my lunchtime was salvaged by the appearance of two TENNESSEE WARBLERS feeding within the northeast mature Locust tree. Nearby a pair of YELLOW BELLIED SAPSUCKERS pecked away on another Locust,one an immature bird.

A quick run through of the Rink rooftop revealed not much except a scattering of SONG ,one SWAMP and more WHITE THROATED SPARROWS.

Earlier in the sparrowbowl, as we drove in with new wildflowers, CHIPPING SPARROWS kept flying ahead of us , perching in the fence ,moving along as my vehicle rumbled in.