A Confirmed Sighting!

 I thought I would head over to the wetlands and see what the morning golden hour might offer up in the way of interesting waterfowl pictures. Yesterday morning Canadian Geese had flown in and out and I was anxious to practice my Bird in Flight tracking and focusing skills on the big birds. I have a good hide to shot pictures from and with a quick gate I started out for it. In my coffee induced hysteria to get there I didn't do my pre-camera check thoroughly and had to stop along the trail to collect myself and regroup before I crept into the hide. A little bird was dancing from branch to branch in a near by oak, the perfect object to check the camera on before getting serious.

 Just a Sparrow. I clicked a few more pics and spent the next of couple hours waiting for the big birds that never arrived. When I got home and slid my SD card out of the camera and into the computer to inspect the images the little sparrow looked strange to me. It had a light colored belly and a beautiful auburn crown.
A SIGHTING!? During my tenure here on the Pine River I have faithfully filled in the tiny boxes next to the names in the back of my Birds of Michigan Field Guide to commemorate the event of the sighting of a new bird. During the early years these celebrations were fairly common but as the years have come and gone new bird sightings are few and far between.

At first my research led me to the Chipping Sparrow but my bird lacked the dark eye stripe. The guide advised the amateur to look closely for a black spot in the center of the chest. Bingo!
A personal first, let me introduce The American Tree Sparrow, who has the cool Latin name Spizella arborea.

This little guy spends its summers in northern Canada and can be seen in Michigan during its winter migration. Tonight we drink the good stuff!


                    "You will always remember this as the day you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow"

                                                                                    Johnny Depp