Considering the time of year, Little Bennett was pretty slow yesterday. 
  The only things I encountered that I didn't find Saturday at Patuxent 
were an empid (my first-of-year; quiet, presumably Acadian, but the only 
thing I'm sure of is that it wasn't Yellow-bellied - gray and very white).

When I got to the parking lot about 7:10, lots of birds were singing, 
including a couple of Field Sparrows, and also something that was 
somewhat similar to a Field Sparrow song, but different from any Field 
Sparrow I've heard before.  It was a 3-part song, rather loud; the first 
two parts were only a couple of notes each.  The 3rd part was a long 
steady fast trill, not rising or falling in pitch, and not accelerating 
like all of the Field Sparrows I've heard before.  Overall, the entire 
song was sweeter and more melodious than that of a typical Field Sparrow 
(which is pretty nice).  The song was similar to that of a 
Black-throated Sparrow (how likely is that!) on the Thayer BNA and GBNA 
software, but the ending trill was much longer, and was always on the 
same note, whereas the on the Thayer recording it is not.  I got only a 
brief look at the bird, in rather deep shadow on a low branch of a 
sparsely foliaged medium size tree near the parking lot and the 
highway), but what I saw seemed consistent with a Field Sparrow except 
that the tail looked deeply notched (but couldn't see the head).  I'm 
sure that was the singing bird in question - could see it raise its head 
every time I heard the song.

I guess my question is: Do Field Sparrows ever sing a song like I've 
described, rather than the much more familiar one?  If not, what else 
could it be?

Thanks for any ideas you might have,

	Bob Hartman
	Colesville, MD