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Showing posts from March, 2021

possible Sooty x Red Fox Sparrow in CT

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Back on January 3rd, while doing the Old Lyme Christmas Bird Count, I came across a lone Fox Sparrow on private property in Clinton that struck me as odd for our usual iliaca "Red" Fox Sparrows in that it had quite a bit of gray on the head and seemed to be lacking much in the way of rufous tones to the body. I did snap a few photos, but the encounter was rather brief and I really could not afford to spend much time with the bird if I wanted to complete my CBC territory. I decided I would come back for it another day. On the afternoon of the 5th I scattered seed on the ground beneath the bushes in which it was initially seen and returned to the site on the morning of the 6th to find that the local thicket birds had indeed already discovered the seed. Initially present were two Fox Sparrows. Both were standard Eastern fare. Then three. Then four. But nothing out of the ordinary. By this point I was beginning to question the initial sighting, wondering if lighting conditions ha