I stopped after work to see if I could find an "orange sparrow" that was seen for just a second or two this morning by Howard Patterson and Karen Darcy, along the floodplain to the west of the parking lot and adjacent to the mowed field. After searching for a half hour, a small pale sparrow kicked up very close by and landed in a clump of grass about 20 feet away. I could only see its head, which was very flat and had a broad yellowish supercilium. I knew it was either a Nelson's or a LeConte's at that point. David Cummings showed up a few minutes later and we tracked the bird over the next 30 minutes as it would flush and then fly 10-30 yards each time only to disappear again or perch up for just a couple seconds. We got diagnostic looks and photos. Major fieldmarks were the broad supercilium and yellow cheek stripe enclosing a grayish face, purplish streaking on nape, finely streaked breast washed with pale cream tones, and pale yellow flanks streaked with dark brown. Boy, am I glad I stopped! I only had 30 minutes to spare and did not have high hopes. Also had a nice look at a Vesper. Photos on my flickr site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yawncelot/
Russ Ruffing
Woodstock, MD
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