Spotted Towhee

towhee and sparrows

another path leads to the western side of the river mouth at Campbell but the presence of rather a lot of bear poo and a rather narrow path meant that some flitting sparrows were initially given little attention until I realised that a percentage of the flock were in fact Golden-crowned Sparrows a species I had not seen since California in 1997 -- after some tricky views a couple of birds eventually performed well -- Spotted Towhees were also frequent -- according to the Sibley guide these first two White-crowned Sparrows are first-winter West Taiga birds while the bird on the path is a Pacific first-winter -- Savannah Sparrows were scattered through most habitats

day 3 birds in the scrub and grass --

the area below the HSIBJ had a singing Spotted Towhee, House Wren and several singing Clay-coloured Sparrows plus a pair of Brown Thrashers with Vesper Sparrow on the hilltop -- a Prairie Falcon flashed by and a male American Kestrel was the only bird of the trip; scanning the prairie below the site for something that displayed briefly and may well have been an Upland Sand I fortuitously picked up a Sharp-tailed Grouse sat on a wooden framework -- not the closest bird but a lifer --

Spotted Towhee