[MDOsprey] sparrow ID help request (lincoln vs. swamp) + Birds around the

Robert Weiner (rweiner@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu)
Thu, 7 Oct 1999 16:31:30 -0400 (EDT) 

ospreyers,

Hopefully some of you fringillophiles can enlighten me on differentiating
swamp and lincoln's sparrows (I am familiar only with the former).  Last
Rock Creek Park about a couple of hours before I arrived.  I hunted
around, and was rewarded with a very unsparrowlike long close look at what
I assumed to be a swamp sparrow (although the yard -- a miniature dry
meadow surrounded by heavy woodland -- does not strike me as a likely
place for one).

The bird closely resembled the one described by Don Burggraf in his Oct 1
post to MDOSPREY.  In particular, since the bird sat facing me, I could
clearly see that its breast streaks were faint and ill-defined, not really
"streaky" like those shown in Rising's lincoln's plate.  breast clear
and buff-colored above and below the faintly-streaked area.  The crest was
raised, and the top stripe was clearly brown, rather than rusty red.

After puzzling over the plates in Rising, the National Geo, and Peterson,
I was little the wiser, and concluded that I had reached my incompetence
level.  Can anyone clue me in on what I should be looking for?  thanks.

Today (7 Oct) A mid-day walk along the Felley Mall route produced more
migrants, although no sparrows (the Mall can be great for sparrows a bit
later in the season). One nice thing about birding on the Mall that Jim
doesn't mention is visibility.  The openness of the area allows both for
good looks and the ability to keep up with mixed-species flocks as they
move through, something not always possible at such heavily-wooded nearby
areas as Roosevelt Island and rock creek Park.
   
   Yellow-Rumped Warbler
   Magnolia Warbler
   Black-and-white Warbler
   Chestnut-sided Warbler  
   Black-throated Blue Warbler
Golden-crowned Kinglet (flock of a half-dozen, including one feeding on the 
ground, a much better vantage point for seeing the goldcrest than usual)
   Eastern Phoebe
   Sharp-shinned Hawk
Downy woodpecker (half dozen in a small area; thought they didn't migrate)

rob

Robert Weiner (rweiner@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu)
George Washington University
Washington DC 20052
202 994 5981