This morning I went over to the wetland area on SW 237th Ave. to see
whether any new ducks were in.

On the way, I noticed a fair amount of activity along 237th about 2.5
miles S of 168th St. (or .5 mile N of 216th).  A number of Savannah
Sparrows were out in the prairie to the W.  There was also one bird that
appeared to be a Swamp Sparrow.

But the best sparrow came when I was looking at two Savannahs in a bush
through the scope.  Another sparrow jumped up and chased them away.  It
took only a second to note the extra-long bill, and realize that the
newcomer was a Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow!

After I got back, I checked the Cape Sable Sparrow webpage
(http://web.utk.edu/~grussell/cssshtml/csss.html) for more info. Although
I was unaware of it, this area is part of what the sparrow researchers
call "Area F".  The Seaside Sparrow population there is very small, and
the surveys have often turned up only one bird.  There is some weak
indication of a population increase there recently.

Somewhat later, I made my way down to the field on the W side of SW 217th,
between 344th and 360th St.  This land is currently for sale, and appears
to be left fallow.  Right now it's a weedy field, with lots of sparrows.
I checked a portion of the field, and noted at least 10 Grasshopper
Sparrows, and too many Savannahs to keep track of.  I think it's the same
field where Steve Siegel found a Lark Sparrow last week.

--
John H. Boyd III                               [log in to unmask]
Dept. of Economics                             Phone: 305-348-3287
Florida International University               Fax: 305-348-1524
Miami, FL 33199                                http://ecojb.fiu.edu/