I'm attempting to work my way through my Southwest US trip but hit a snag when I was unable to identify a couple of sparrows and a thrasher that I saw on the trip. I had to consult with more experienced birders for these identifications and I was asked to please pass on any disagreements with the identifications. I think I can safely point out that we're all working outside our area (as in location!) of expertise here since the photos were taken in New Mexico.
First up is apparently a Vesper sparrow. I failed to recognize it because I'm used to using a rufous shoulder patch for identification and I just can't see it here. I was impressed with the fine striping along the top of the bird's head.
Next up is apparently a Brewer's sparrow, identified I am told, by elimination of other possible sparrow species. In a way this was a real coup... I have always hoped to photograph some of the sparrows that we don't have in the PacNW but I never had much hope of identifying such a bird at the time I was photographing it. I just photographed birds (sparrows) and hoped for the best. In this case things seem to have worked out!
It seemed that this bird, since it was a sparrow, shouldn't have been difficult to photograph, but it was. I spent 20-30 minutes attempting to photograph it but its behavior was much more like a warbler or vireo than a sparrow... it never quit moving It confined its activities to this single species of bush and I couldn't tell if it was feeding on insects or seeds. Intervening branches and twigs and the harsh New Mexico sun added to my photographic problems.
Finally, in virtually the same location, I photographed this thrasher which was partially lured by a little 'habitat enhancer' and other birds. I won't go into it here, but one of my big theories is that birds attract other birds so you can improve your species count by luring the easy to attract species and letting them attract the harder to attract species. Make sense? (I didn't think so!)
I'm told that this is probably a Curve-billed thrasher... the other possibility is a Bendire's thrasher.
And finally, since you've waited awhile for this most recent post, I'm going to tell you a little story. In a land far, far away I took a sparrow class... and since sparrows can be one of the more difficult species to identify I took the course a second time. I wasn't happy with the way the material was organized and presented and saw a way to improve the class by offering a handout. I actually went to the trouble to create the handout and present it to the instructor (who I think I can safely say was an expert in sparrow identification). He wasn't interested.
I bided my time and my skills grew to some extent. I am still very humble concerning my skills as a birder, but I consider that I have a knack for organizing and presenting information. So as my skills grew I took the time to outline a beginning birding course but without any real plans or motivation to teach such a course. After I moved to the Pacific NW (April of 2001) I happened to mention my outline to the then-president of the local birding organization and he seemed enthusiastic about me teaching a course.
Several months passed with no further discussion, then in September of 2001 I received a phone call saying that the deadline for publication for the class was the next day. It was one thing to have a rough outline for a class and yet another to have a detailed outline with handouts and be prepared to stand up and discuss birding for some twelve hours of classes! However I put the work in and for the past nine years have either taught beginning birding classes for the local birding organization or the local community college.
So my start with teaching beginning birding classes had its birth with sparrows!
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