I started out meeting Greg at the Battleship hoping for a decent look at a rail but it was cold and windy and although we thought we heard all three species (King, Virginia and Sora) we could not get any looks.
So we headed to Lake Sutton and were treated to a spectacle of thousands if not tens of thousands of Tree Swallows. Tons of Laughing Gulls too. Some Pied-billed Grebes in the distance gave us some hope but in the end nothing. It was strange that there was no ducks too. Greg thinks that the warm water was not something the Red-necked Grebes would have liked.
On the way out, we stopped at a very productive bush next to the dirt road that had all kinds of Sparrows including some very photogenic Field Sparrows. While watching the sparrows we found out why it was such a hotspot. An old man in a jeep was slowly driving down the road while his dog ran alongside. He was throwing out cracked corn all along the mile or so of road for the birds. I am not sure if he just liked birds or if he was doing it to attract doves for hunting or what but the sparrows obviously knew the drill and were waiting for him like Pavlov's dogs.
Field Sparrow - I actually do not usually see many of these so it was a treat to see dozens at close range.
Note rusty cap and eye line behind eye, clear breast and pink bill.
This particular shot looks like an advertisement for Angry Birds. "Back away from my cracked corn!".
Savannah Sparrow
So I highly recommend birding the road along the way to Lake Sutton (Lake Sutton Rd.) and get there early if you want to see sparrows going to town on Jimmy's Cracked Corn smorgasbord.
On way home I stopped at Greenfield Lake to scan it real quick. This GBH was fishing and giving me a dinosaur glare.
Great times!
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