Máistir Nádúraí: White-crowned Sparrow

10.14.2008

White-crowned Sparrow

Migratory sparrow numbers continue to increase at Pheasant Branch prairie, but no Harris's Sparrow yet! As far as natural lighting goes, this October has been a photographer's dream. It's nice when all the elements come together, but if you go digiscoping often enough, on occasion the truly remarkable happens. This morning as I stood on the trail with my scope and camera aimed at a particular branch, a gorgeous adult White-crowned Sparrow popped right into the frame. I so love the easy ones! This seemed like such a challenging species to get good photographs of when I first began digiscoping.

White-crowned Sparrow

Jeff Bahls posted the following to the Wisconsin Birding Network:

Sparrow Identification

The next meeting of the Horicon Marsh Bird Club is October 16th, and will feature Tom Schultz, who will speak on the identification of Wisconsin's sparrows. This meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Horicon DNR field station located at the north end of Palmitory Street in Horicon.

NOTE: The DNR "Field Office", on N. Palmitory St. is the location of the HMBC meetings during the construction of the Horicon Marsh International Education Center.

Autumn is a great time to look for sparrows, as flocks gather and migrate southward. This PowerPoint presentation will provide a systematic overview of the identification of Wisconsin's sparrows, discussing some of the reasons why these birds provide such a challenge for birders. Tom will examine the various groups, and look at the some of the distinctive structural and plumage characteristics of each - which will hopefully provide a useful structure that will enable you to identify the various sparrows that you encounter in the field.

Bio:

Mike McDowell has been documenting southern Wisconsin’s flora and fauna since 1987 and began leading field trips in 2002. Prolific at Pheasant Branch Conservancy, other highlighted natural areas include Pope Farm Conservancy, Spring Green Preserve, and the Baraboo Hills. His nature photography has appeared in various publications, newspapers, magazines and was even featured on a Wisconsin Endangered Resources license plate, a Capital Brewery beer label, and a National Geographic publication. He began journaling nature observations on this blog in 2005. He's the recipient of the 2012 Bronze Passenger Pigeon Award from the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology, presented to individuals who have made outstanding contributions in their local communities or state to promote the field of ornithology. He was a finalist in Swarovski’s Digiscoper of the Year photography contest several times. His other interests include insect macro-photography (especially tiger beetles, treehoppers, and robber flies), fossil collecting, amateur astronomy, botany, natural history, and marksmanship with long-range firearms. Once a gigging musician, collecting Fender Stratocasters is a recently revived interest—most prized being a 1957 Vintage Custom 'Mary Kaye' White Blonde. A former IT Professional, he's spent the last 24 years employed in the sport optics industry and has more binoculars than you.