Sam's Lane - Sparrows in Boulder County Open Space

Early last week one of the Boulder area birders reported seeing some Cassin's Kingbirds along a trail he referred to as Sam's Lane. I knew the area but wasn't familiar with the path, and the report indicated some gate jumping was involved - so I decided it was a perfect lunch time destination.

The Kingbirds had moved on, but I had a nice walk, and some good practice sorting out fall sparrows.

The Vesper Sparrow: (note the complete eye-ring and rufous coverts peaking through above the wing-bars)


Brewer's Sparrows were also around, these are really tough to distinguish from Clay-colored Sparrows in the fall, but I am calling this a Brewer's based on the less distinct facial patterns, and by what appears to be more streaking in the nape, (the gray area that constitutes the back of the neck- below the head markings and above the wings and back):


In addition to the Vesper and Brewer's Sparrows there were a large group of Savannah Sparrows that were primarily foraging on the ground. One of them popped up to the fence briefly, stopping to pose before dropping back to cover.


For Savannah Sparrows, I find that in the field the most noticeable traits are the golden lores (area between the eye and bill). In this cloud-shaded picture they don't stand out as clearly as they can in direct sunlight. For me, sparrows still get a lot of scrutiny when I am looking through my pictures after the fact to make sure my initial identification is correct. When looking at a Savannah Sparrow more closely - either through bins in the field or at the picture above I note the eye-line that breaks the white eye-ring. Compare that to the Vesper Sparrow at the top of the page where the eye-ring is complete. One final mark for the Savannah Sparrow is the length of the tail. It is short enough to appear broken, and a good comparison against other known sparrows in the field.

A Few More Pics from St. Vrain SP

A few more random pics from my visit to Saint Vrain State Park on Monday afternoon.

Killdeer on the wing:



Savannah Sparrow:




Teal; both Cinnamon and Blue-winged:



Great-tailed Grackle:

The hint of light-blue iridescence on the wing coverts was cool to capture.

Horned Lark:

Great Blue Heron:

Mourning Dove, showing the fainest hint of green iridescence:

Going to look for some spring arrivals around Broomfield this evening, then a late NHL Playoff game will make my plans for an early visit to the nesting owls a long shot, but who knows it may still happen.

Sparrows and Change

For my lunch break today I decided to head over to a little trailhead on the way to Marshall Mesa where I had some luck finding bluebirds earlier in the spring. This time I was more interested in the two marshy ponds that are full of cattails and were places I considered good possible locations for shorebirds or waterfowl.
I was immediately successful locating Yellow-Headed Blackbirds which were present in the best numbers I have seen yet. They were vocalizing with a click that sounds exactly like a modern driver making good contact with a golf ball. I wonder if they have always done that, or if it gets mimicked from being heard on all the golf courses with marshy wetlands?

There wasn't much variety in the ponds, but as I was watching I saw and photographed one individual in each of the three following Sparrow species. The Vesper Sparrow is above. I noticed the breast spot, but that the bird's colors seemed more faded than a Song Sparrow and started my searching from there. The white eyering really helped to dial this ID in.

This next Sparrow is a Brewer's, the field marks are visible even though the colors were a bit washed out by the direct sun. Here I noted the pale, light-gray underside with no streaking. The white eyering, coupled with the thin moustache and eyelines were good clues as well. Finally I matched the description of mixed black and tan feathering on the top of the head, and confirmed that this was a Brewers.

The last of the Sparrows I had a chance to ID was the Savannah Sparrow above. I had almost dismissed it on an initial look as a female Red-Winged Black Bird, but even through the elements and habitat were right, I knew that was not correct. The breast and flanks of the RWBB are heavily streaked, making the overall color of the bird much darker. Also, the RWBB has dark legs and feet, and just seems larger and thicker than the Savannah. The other possibility here that I checked was the White-Throated Sparrow. I looked there because it also has the yellow forehead markings. The White-Throated was dismissed before I even checked it because of its crisp white and black lines on the head. However, checking the birds that I know share some common field marks is a good first step. It helped me to know why I was eliminating those species, and by checking the similar species listed for the ones I knew I was able to get to a starting place and eventually eliminate all but the Savannah Sparrow.

If you are still reading, sorry for the rambling description. I am working on getting some of these IDs more firmly wired in my brain, and working back through the steps I followed may help for next time.

Finally, while I was looking out across the field to see if there were any visible Burrowing Owls in the area, I had a nice view of an American Kestrel overhead. The translucent bits of the wings really show up well, yet again Kestrels stepping up for a new fun way to be photographed.