The east coast has treated us well when it comes to racking up some new sparrow species. Here is a quick run down of a few.
Upon arriving in Connecticut the sparrows I was seeing weren’t lifers but they were sparrows I had only seen once or twice before. Field Sparrows and American Tree Sparrows were abundant! It was much easier tracking them down here than it was back in Arizona! I once drove 9 hours for an American Tree Sparrow… and I missed it!
Our first lifer sparrow didn’t come until spring, but it was a double whammy! It seemed like one day the eBird needs alert started going bizurk with sightings of Seaside and Saltmarsh Sparrows. Many times both of these birds were being seen side by side. We had made several attempts to local hot spots to try and find these guys but it wasn’t until we went to Hammonassat State Park that we finally found our birds!
Minutes into our search we were greeted by a few Saltmarsh Sparrows, some of which were right off the main path bathing in a puddle. Walking literally a few feet down the trail a singing Seaside Sparrow put on a good show.
Just a few days later we headed up to Maine to find some puffins but the second target bird was another sparrow, the Nelson’s Sparrow. There seemed to be just one hot spot for us to find the bird, so we headed out to a little pond where we were greeted by a local birder. She took us down to the spot where the Nelson’s were breeding. Quick glimpse before it would dive down into the long grass. Photos were almost impossible, it seemed.
Eventually the local birder departed and we just sat there. Patiently waiting an hoping for a more cooperative bird. Waiting paid off, as the sun came out so did the birds. Sitting up and singing, the birds would pose briefly before disappearing again . Luckily these Nelson’s Sparrows were much more cooperative than the Connecticut sparrows we would see later on in the year.
Alrighty one more lifer sparrow on the east coast the LeConte’s Sparrow. After a quick search for a Harris’s Sparrow, we returned home to relax on an overcast, gray kind of day. That is when my phone pinged! LeConte’s Sparrow 30 min away!
Running to the car, i sped off. The parking lot was full so I had to park down the road. As I strapped on the camera and binoculars I got a call. Bird being seen right now! I power walked/ran in the direction of the bird. Upon arrival the bird was nowhere to be seen.
Of course, now the waiting game. The whole group had seen the bird, leaving myself and one other new comer desperately waiting for a reappearance. It didn’t leave, its still in there everyone assured us. Every Song Sparrow that popped up I trained my binos on only to be disappointed.
And then it happened. I nudged the fellow LeConte’s seeker. “This ones different”. “That’s it!”
Up came the cameras as we tried to get others on the bird. What a sweet little sparrow, smaller than I had anticipated. Rare for Connecticut this was an epic sighting with some wonderful friends. Perfect round up of the expected east coast sparrows!
Our Traveling Tales 