What a day! Around 1:00pm in the afternoon today, I looked outside to see what was hanging around my birdfeeder and saw a sparrow I had never seen before. I have a pair of binoculars at every window that overlooks the backyard (cheap ones) so I grabbed the pair hanging by the backdoor to check out the bird. I had barely got it focused when every bird in sight took off! I went to my bedroom window and noticed a hawk in the tree!
About 40 minutes later (the next time I checked), the birds were back and this new bird was there again. This time I was able to focus on it for a little bit to note the rufous coloured crown, a blackish spot on its chest and a yellow and black bill. Then, all the birds disappeared...again! This time, I went outside and flushed a Sharpie from a tree on the west side of my backyard. I no sooner turned around and saw a Sharpie (same or different...I don't know) land in a tree on the east side of my yard. I got to watch it for awhile (I still had my binoculars). It flew to cedar tree in behind my neighbours, then to a large tree a few doors down, then left. I headed inside and waited for the birds to return.
Eventually the birds came back and I waited to see if the new bird came back. It did, only briefly, and all the birds took off....AGAIN!! Sheesh! I am getting frustrated! I wanted to ID and photograph the new bird. So, I waited, consulting my Sibley's Guide. About 40 minutes later, there were still no birds to speak of....a porker of a house sparrow pigging out in my covered birdhouse, and an American Goldfinch at the finch feeder, perched very strangely. I eventually went outside, concerned something was wrong with the Goldfinch and flushed the Sharpie....AGAIN!!!
Finally, at about 4:15pm., I finally snapped some photos of the new bird! An American Tree Sparrow!! This is a life bird for me :) Here are a few pictures...
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| My cat, Freebie, waiting for the American Tree Sparrow to return. |
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| SCORE!!! The Sharpie didn't stop me from getting a photo! |
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| Two American Tree Sparrows! |
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| Note the bicoloured bill...didn't get a good picture of the spot on the chest. |
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| You can somewhat see the spot on its' chest on this one.... |
Congrats on the life bird. :) I have to say though that I was disappointed you didn't get any shots of the Sharpie. That's more exciting to me than the American Tree Sparrow - I'm partial to raptors. :)
ReplyDeleteMy husband's response yesterday was, "So, you have lots of hawk pictures then?". The one time I could have got a picture (because he didn't leave right away), I had put my camera down. Then he flew out of good picture range....and to be honest, I was so focused on the sparrow, I didn't really think about it :)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the life bird, Tiffanie! I keep my eye on the house sparrows hoping to see a stranger mixed in with them.
ReplyDeleteI've never had a Tree Sparrow in the yard before ... not that I know of, anyway.
This would've been very exciting to see. :)