New Yard Bird (No Photo)

We’re ringing in the new year with a new yard bird. 

We had our first snow the night of Jan 13-14.  Although snow had been forecast for later in the weekend, it was unexpected this night.  I was alerted to something unusual happening when I began hearing some strange sounds about 4am.  Upon investigation it was apparently the sound of globs of snow falling from our madrone tree onto our skylights as the temperature warmed slightly.  I could see from the window that the ground was covered in snow. 

Later that morning (before my morning nap!) I filled all of the bird feeders so they would be ready for the snow that was forecast for the afternoon/evening of the next day (Jan 15).  We drove to Bellingham, which was uncharacteristically mostly snow-free, that afternoon for a couple of errands.  By the time we returned home most of the snow had melted. 

We received no snow the night of Jan 14-15 but I knew all of our ground feeders would appreciate a handout so about 8:45am I spread some sunflower seed off our south patio.  As is usually the case, the area was soon inundated with our usual sparrow population (Song, Fox, Golden-crowned and House) along with our most populous winter bird, the Oregon junco.  I noted that our Slate-colored junco was still with us along with a couple of Spotted towhees.  As I retreated inside I got my binoculars to see if there was anything really interesting in what I will term ‘the usual crowd’. 

After a minute or so I spied a sparrow with unusual head markings, not only as to their placement but also their color.  There was a central stripe down the bird’s crown and parallel lateral stripes down each side of the bird’s head.  But the thing that caught my attention most was the color of the stripes… they weren’t white or even faded white but had a distinctive burnt golden tone.   As I was puzzling over the stripes the bird turned and presented its full breast to my view and I saw the very distinct, very white patch on its throat.  I realized then that it was a White-throated sparrow which I confirmed by locating the yellow lores on the bird, somewhat difficult to see in the relatively dim light of early morning. 

I rushed for my camera (which I had uncharacteristically left in my car overnight) but by the time I got back to my viewing post all the birds had gone.  It would have been nice to document the presence of our first known White-throated sparrow but I have no doubt as to its identity and I’ll be keeping a close watch over the next few days to see if it returns. 

And while I’m on yard birds, we have at least two Anna’s hummingbirds that are determined to make it through the winter.  At least one of the birds is a male but I’m uncertain about the sex of the second hummingbird.  And hardly a day goes by without me seeing one of the hummingbirds taking a bath in our watercourse.  This is water so cold that I can barely tolerate submerging my hand for just a brief period to change the filter! 

So we’re off to a great start for the new year with a new yard bird!