Rare Bird

Well, I thought it was a rare bird but my bird book says it's a White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys), a decidedly un-rare bird common throughout our region.  Of course, if one of our birdly blippers can come up with a better ID, and it should turn out to be rare, then I would feel pretty smug.  I heard it before I saw it and it was the little "peep" sound it made, a single note, that intrigued me, plus it let me get fairly close.  Maybe it's young and didn't know any better.  I am definitely lacking in bird ID skills and have put that project on my list of things to do after I retire in March. 

 I have been out with one birding group -- blipper MaryJo and I spent several hours with them one Saturday -- and it seemed we spent most of the day staring at various holes in trees waiting for something to come out.  These birders didn't even carry cameras -- just little notebooks into which they scribbled notes on the sightings and sounds we experienced.  We were looking for an owl and it was impressive that the leader of the group knew exactly where the owl could be found, except the owl wasn't expecting company so it wasn't home.  We did see some Black-capped chickadees which seemed to excite some of the group.  That happened to be the one bird I knew and actually had them in my front yard.  I could have invited the group over for tea and bird-watching with less work.  We did a lot of walking that day, and a lot of peering into tree trunks and bushes plus bird watching is hard on one's neck because most birds are up so you can either look up in hopes of seeing one while you trip over tree roots, or you can look down watching for tree roots and miss the birds.  It's your choice.