You would think that, after returning from an intense trip to Northern Minnesota, that we would take the next day off. Wrong.
We had species to find and, so, headed to the closest decent birding spot to Heather's house in Athens, the University of Georgia State Botanical Gardens. Heather frequented this spot and both of us had visited before. We had limited time, but a decent idea of where birds would be on the cool, crisp morning.
Downing cups of coffee, we came up with a strategy and rapidly put it into action. Caffeine coursed through us as we walked a ridge line from the parking lot to the Oconee River. Along the ridge, we heard more than we saw but did get a fantastic look at a diminutive Golden-crowned Kinglet bouncing through the canopy. This can be a tough find compared to many other species found in the area so we were thrilled to add it to the list.
The trail opened up into a mowed lawn interspersed with tall, native grass beds. A swampy lowland loomed in the distance before the land met the river. Low, grassy areas in winter tend to attract sparrows and this spot fit the bill (no pun intended). We saw several birds dashing down from grass stems into the underbrush and knew we had a challenge on our hands. Fortunately, Heather knows her calls and I'm decent with sparrows. "Those are all chippings," Heather told me. "But I'm hearing others."
Yes, we had found several chipping sparrows but what were these other species? Song and swamp sparrows could be expected and, sure enough, two singers turned out to be those species. However, Heather and I kept seeing sparrows that looked, acted, and sounded different.
In a tree above us, Heather had a hunch that a sparrow her binoculars focused on was a White-throated Sparrow. When I turned to look, neither she nor I could find it. Patience paid off, however, when the gorgeous White-throated Sparrow flew into view and held a still pose for several seconds.
A Northern Flicker flew into view, Eastern Bluebirds made an appearance, and yet another sparrow seemed to be making some variation of "chip". We tracked the sound to the edge of the swampy lowland where, low and behold, a White-crowned Sparrow was feeding. We viewed it briefly before shyness got the best of it but, again, waited patiently for a better view. The bird cooperated and flew back up to the edge of a grass stem, capping off the brief birding excursion with yet another beautiful sparrow that neither Heather or I see too often.
Sadly, I had to leave and drive back down to Tallahassee, eager already for the next time I got to see Heather and, of course, more birds.
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We update our overall list after each post. Be sure to check it to see what species we've added and how close (or far) we are from meeting our goal.
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