Miscellaneous: White-throated Sparrows

For the last three days, I've had a pair of White-throated Sparrows kicking around the leaves under our bird feeder looking for seeds dropped by the rather messy House Finches that prefer to land directly on the feeder. White-throated Sparrows are not rare but they are by far the least common of the three Zonotrichia genus sparrows we see here in Northern California in the winter months (the others being White-crowned Sparrows and Golden-crowned Sparrows). All three are winter migrants here, usually arriving around October and leaving by April. I always enjoy seeing them. Please excuse the poor photograph, which was taken through the kitchen window. 

Birds I'm Watching: First Bird of 2019

2019—First bird of the year: White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis). This portends good birding in 2019, I think, as White-throated Sparrow is a relatively uncommon species here. I saw one under the feeder this morning as I pulled up the blinds on the living room windows. I've started putting out seed again after a hiatus of a couple of years prompted by the presence of young cats in the neighborhood. I'm hoping for the best now (but will remain vigilant).

To all my birder friends: I wish you a bountiful 2019 with many exotic, rare birds among the regulars.

Birds I'm Watching: Oaks at Oakmont and Melita Rd.

Yesterday, I had errands to run near Oakmont. I took a quick look in some of the pockets of oak trees in the area. There are a number of side streets off the main road trough Oakmont that have large oaks in them and little traffic (often they are cul-de-sacs or loops that go nowhere). These streets offer excellent habitat for birds like chickadees, nuthatches, the oak titmouse, scrub jays, Pacific slope flycatchers, and, at this time of year, warblers. I suppose the place is called Oakmont for a reason. The streets have names like Oak Leaf Dr., Oak Point Ct., Oak Brook Ln., and Oak Mesa Dr.

I also looked around Melita Rd. I didn't see much of interest except a single white-throated sparrow. April 27 is a very late date to see one in Sonoma County. I think the latest record is May 1. Most of them will have already begun to move south after wintering here. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me. I may try to go out again today to get a picture of him, although he is likely to have moved off.