Though I knew that most of Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area was closed for duck hunting, I decided to make a brief excursion anyway. On this pleasant December morning, most of the shallows were frozen but the open central channel had attracted a large number of mallards, a few dozen Canada geese and six trumpeter swans.
Other sightings were rather limited but, in a corner of one field, a large number of sparrows flitted about, briefly posing on stems of dried weeds and wildflowers before disappearing into the dense jungle of grass and low shrubs. Since sparrow identification has always been a challenge for me, even after 45 years of birding, I stopped to survey the activity for awhile. In the end, I had identified five species (song, savannah, white-throated, swamp and American tree sparrows).
Savannah sparrows can be especially challenging to identify since their plumage is highly variable. Furthermore, they, like their cousins, tend to prefer dense vegetation in which to hide from predators while scouring the ground for seeds. In fact, a red-tailed hawk surveyed the scene from a nearby tree but was more likely looking for mice, voles and cottontails.
Other sightings were rather limited but, in a corner of one field, a large number of sparrows flitted about, briefly posing on stems of dried weeds and wildflowers before disappearing into the dense jungle of grass and low shrubs. Since sparrow identification has always been a challenge for me, even after 45 years of birding, I stopped to survey the activity for awhile. In the end, I had identified five species (song, savannah, white-throated, swamp and American tree sparrows).
Savannah sparrows can be especially challenging to identify since their plumage is highly variable. Furthermore, they, like their cousins, tend to prefer dense vegetation in which to hide from predators while scouring the ground for seeds. In fact, a red-tailed hawk surveyed the scene from a nearby tree but was more likely looking for mice, voles and cottontails.
