
I started writing this post so long ago I almost forgot what it was. But these pictures are from last month, when I visited McGinnis Slough. I never know what to expect as the species change with the water level. The water level was low, so there were primarily land birds to look for. And most of them were sparrows, often referred to fondly as “LBJs” or “little brown jobs” in birder jargon.
At the top of the post is a Swamp Sparrow and there are more photographs below. Swamp Sparrows are distinctly reddish-brown on their wings.




Next, a couple lovely Song Sparrows. Always streaky, but they can often look quite different. The strong, bold malar is their giveaway.
I will never forget how frustrated I felt when I first discovered birds and found out that House Sparrows are not a native species but indeed, there were some thirty-odd native species to worry about. With luck I will see a third of them here. It took years of classes and practice to get them straight. Actually when I first got interested in birds, House Sparrows were still considered weaver finches by some. They are now included in the sparrow family. I’ve never seen a House Sparrow at McGinnis, so they are not featured in this post. But considering they were among the first birds to interact with me, I probably owe them a tribute someday in a future post. Until then, I believe they are all in my backyard…





One of my favorite sparrows is below, the Fox Sparrow. There are four subspecies. The one we see is the “Red”.

The handsome sparrow below is a juvenile White-Crowned Sparrow. I have not seen an adult this fall.



Dark-eyed Juncos are part of the sparrow family too. I am always intrigued by the nuances of color in these birds, I don’t find them drab at all. After a while one starts to recognize them by their flash of white tail feathers in flight or their ratchety calls.







To jazz things up a bit, there were a couple of Northern Cardinals handy. I never turn down an opportunity to capture them.
There were a few Yellow-rumped Warblers too. It was the last time I saw them this year.




It was still warm enough for Dandelions to consider blooming. Seeds are scattering from milkweed pods. I was attracted to the red-leafed plant but I don’t know what it is.



Last, here are a few scenes from the slough. All the way at the bottom is the overturned picnic table that used to sit right by the overlook onto the slough at the south end. It was a nice place to sit. I am not letting my imagination run too wild with what caused anyone to throw it into the creek upside-down.

I will try to be back sooner. Work has been busy and all-consuming. But now it seems silly and superfluous to complain about anything. I have started swimming again. Swimming Fixes Everything. I was surprised that I had forgotten how absolutely, sinfully wonderful it feels to get out of the pool with all my cells “woke”. I feel almost guilty admitting it in the midst of such a miserable, suffering year. If I could bottle and sell the feeling I have after swimming, I would be a trillionaire, but of course I can’t because the best things in life, truly, are free.
I hope you have a go-to place that refreshes your spirit and gives you energy to continue. We’re not done yet.
You do enjoy a wonderful variety of birds. Thirty different sorts of sparrows is amazing.
Well, that’s including what falls into the sparrow family, so to speak, so it includes birds like towhees. I tend not to think too much about the ones I’m not likely to run into. Likely time for a refresher course. 🙂
As far as I know, I have only ever seen three different sorts of sparrows, house sparrow, tree sparrow and hedge sparrow….and the hedge sparrow isn’t even a sparrow.
Linnaeus started all this. Passer domesticus has been around for a long, long time. The family is passerellidae. I need to figure out how many species I have seen now. Oh dear.
Good luck.
I am generally happy if I can see a bird even if I can’t identify it.
There’s a new study I’ve heard about, relating one’s level of happiness to how many birds one sees. There’s a study for everything. It would be nice if it translated into more birds.
I would be very happy to see more birds so I should think that the study is right!