Hi all,
?
With a day off work today, I headed directly to Liberty Lake this morning to search for the previously reported Swamp Sparrow.? I arrived at 8:00am and didn't find the sparrow until 11:00am.? I worked the boardwalk area three separate times with the last time being the lucky one.? I did note that about this time it felt a bit warmer and the wind died down a bit.? Also, seeing Jon Isacoff's eBird report from 10:00am-ish, he found it today before I did.? Still...I got very good looks and some awesome photos of a bird that before today I had only heard before.
?
If you go, I would suggest quickly before the arctic cold hits us.? Go to the amphitheater / boardwalk and walk out to the end.? The Swamp Sparrow initially approached from the east.
?
Also, noteworthy was a huge raft of Common Mergansers on the lake.? I counted 550 birds!? Several Marsh Wrens were around the viewing platform at the end of the boardwalk as well.? eBird list to come later...
?
Tim O'Brien
Cheney, WA
mailto: kertim7179 at yahoo.com