10/24/2020 - 10/25/2020
I mean... not on purpose. On a weekend were Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Townsend's Solitaire, both LeConte's and Nelson's Sparrows, and Evening Grosbeaks showed up in the state, I did not manage to see much of anything. Sometimes, that is just the way this goes.
It is not that I did not go out. I just was not where any of those things were seen. I started the weekend at Goose Pond. I knew it was a longshot. This was the first weekend to seriously start looking for LeConte's Sparrow in the area. The problem was, it was windy on Saturday. Sparrows and winds do not mix. In spite of my and several other birders best efforts, we did not find any. There were a lot of sparrows about, but they were pretty well hunkered down in the weeds. The best bird of the morning was an Orange-crowned Warbler in a nearby stand of oak trees. Pictures were hard to come by.
The forecast for Sunday was not any better, and I ended up staying close to home. I started to head off to The Burn, but I took one look at the flags whipping on the poles, and I knew it was going to be another day like Saturday. I turned the car around and headed to the park. The morning started with a Merlin bombing through the area and perching high up in a tree. He eventually launched down and swooped through a nearby tree line. I lost him, but the alarm calls of the jays giving me some idea of where he ended up. Surprisingly, I had a Sedge Wren singing in a field. It is always great to hear them. There were lots of sparrows at the park, but the winds mostly kept them down, too.
I am hoping that next weekend is a little less windy. I have one last weekend to find a LeConte's. Or, maybe I should just go look for some of those rarities that avoided me last weekend?
Thanks for reading,
Mike