Hi Dave,
I hadn't seen a photo of a juvenile Dark-eyed Junco earlier, but now that I have I think it's very likely that's what it was. Especially given the habitat. The initial marking that I was focused on was the "spot" in the middle of the breast, which isn't anything I've seen in the online DEJU photos I've browsed. Also, the eye-ring was not as pronounced as the descriptions I've read for Vesper Sparrow either.
I'm happy to call this a juvenile Dark-eyed Junco.
Tom Benedict
Seahurst, WA
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On Jul 5, 2022, at 11:51, Dave Slager <dave.slager at gmail.com> wrote:
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Tom,
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Have you considered whether it is a juvenile Dark-eyed Junco?
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Dave Slager
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Seattle, WA
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On Tue, Jul 5, 2022 at 11:26 AM Steve Loitz <steveloitz at gmail.com> wrote:
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That's quite unusual. There are breeding pairs of VESPs near the south end of Puget Sound. 15 or so years ago, I heard, then saw, a VESP on Chamber's Bay golf course.
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Steve Loitz
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Ellensburg WA
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On Tue, Jul 5, 2022 at 10:53 AM Tom Benedict <benedict.t at comcast.net> wrote:
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We had a visit from a Vesper Sparrow at our feeder this morning. It was accompanied by a Song Sparrow, so I was able to compare closely. The Vesper was much lighter and slimmer and had the white outer tail feathers.
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Birdweb.org says that Vespers are 'rare' in the Puget Trough. I wonder what brought this one into the Burien area today?
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Tom Benedict
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Seahurst, WA
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--
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Steve Loitz
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Ellensburg, WA
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steveloitz at gmail.com
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