Emberizid of the hour

Here's a pretty birdie for ya: the male White-Crowned Sparrow. I first blipped this species long ago, in 2009--link here. I wasn't sure which bird to go with today, as I had great photographic success with a few birds at the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge, but this here Zonotrichia leucophrys does not appear to be on the BlipBigYear List, so there you go.

I did manage to bag another very rare bird today...don't ask me how! This time it was a Sandhill Crane, a big feathery pile of grace that was spotted about 10 days ago and reappeared today in the Arcata Bottoms. Link to a grainy picture of that one here.

Runner-up for today's blip goes to a singing Marsh Wren.

A funny and thought-provoking article on the Zonotrichia sparrows (yes, such a thing is possible) can be found here.

Yesterday's backblip: a blustery Savannah Sparrow.

Happy birding everybody :)

Also happy birthday to my father!