Chris,

If so it's the first record for King County and perhaps for Western
Washington. However, we have "had" Sage Sparrows, Vesper Sparrows, and
Lark Sparrows at the fill before.

Gene Hunn.

On Thu, 27 Apr 1995, Christopher Hill wrote:

> Hi Tweets,
>
> To add to Stuart's and Louise's reports:
>
> 1 Brewer's sparrow, I mean Sparrow :)
>
> I suppose I risk public humiliation if it wasn't a BRSP (I've never seen
> one before), but it sure looked like one (are they around Seattle in
> migration? My field guide doesn't show them along the coast).
>
> Just in case it's unusual, I'll provide some details, and you can judge
> for yourself. If they're common, never mind the rest of the message, but
> I'd welcome feedback on BRSP status here in Seattle.
>
> I saw the bird feeding in a 10' tall willow and in a bush, less than 20
> feet from me. My first reaction when I saw it was "Hmm, a _Spizella_
> sparrow," as it was small, slender, flew like a Chipping Sparrow (the only
> Spizella I know well), perched like one - in all posture and structure
> cues, it was indistinguishible from a Chippy. There was a Wilson's
> Warbler in the same bush that perched within a foot of the sparrow for
> size comparison. The back was tan, with fine streaks. I didn't see the
> rump. The crown was pale tan with fine streaking all over it. The
> underparts were completely unstreaked pale gray. The face was very plain
> - compared to a winter or juvenile Chippy the face was much less patterned
> - no conspicuous tan cheek patch, no conspicuous dark streaks, but you
> could make out two faint dark streaks (if you looked real carefully),
> outlining the cheek area (i.e. one extending back from the eye, one
> extending down and back from the malar area). Overall, it was a small,
> very plain sparrow. I also saw the usual savannah, golden crowned, white
> crowned, and song sparrows in the area.
>
> I didn't note lore color as such, and if there was an eye ring, it was
> inconspicuous.
>
>
> Chris Hill
> Seattle, WA
> cehill at u.washington.edu
>
>