Rare Sparrows

Vesper Sparrow

    Last Saturday, Laurie and I went to Richmond, RI and saw a rare (for New England) Vesper Sparrow. I'd only seen four in my life. On this day we saw three more bringing my total to seven! They were in a small flock with Song and Savannah Sparrows. They were not afraid of people or passing cars feeding right along the edge of the road. 

   Today I hung out with my friend Charles in Newport. We saw an even rarer sparrow. It was a Lark Sparrow that has been hanging around Fort Adams for over a month. Lark Sparrows are a sparrow of open fields and meadows in the Midwest. Why this bird decided to take up roots in Rhode Island I do not know. It has been seen by dozens of birders over the last few weeks. Today was my second time seeing it. It was the first bird we saw when we pulled into Fort Adams. I was still driving! I wish Lady Luck was always that generous

Lark Sparrow

*Note- I finally got a job. I'm working at Bass Pro Shops in the fishing dept. This explains why my blog has been quiet as of late. Hopefully, as I get back into the groove, I'll spend more of my days off on adventures. For the past few weeks, most of my days off have been hosting bird club events.

*Note #2- I messed with the white balance on my camera completely ruining most of my sparrow photos. I didn't notice until I got home tonight. While I did delete some washed out photos of the Lark Sparrow that would have been calendar worthy if I didn't f them up, I'm lucky to have salvaged a couple decent photos of both birds.

Below are a couple of other birds I saw in the last couple of weeks.

Ring Necked Pheasant

Short Eared Owl