I believe I briefly saw the Brewer's Sparrow (BRSP) at OBNWR today at
12:15pm near where it had been seen in January. Google Maps location:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=38.649757,-77.225819+(Occoquan+Bay+Natl+Wildlife+Ref,+Woodbridge,+VA++22191,+United+States)&ll=38.649757,-77.225819&spn=0.01168,0.01487&t=h&z=16
I was watching a group of about 8 Field Sparrows that had just flown into a
tangle on the east side of the road that runs along the water parallel to
Delta Road. A sparrow then flew west across the road, either from the Field
Sparrow group or somewhere nearby, and landed low in a tree in the unmown
"triangle" between the road by the water, Charlie Rd and Delta Rd. I
observed the bird for about 5 - 10 seconds from about 60 feet, before it
flew north, deeper into the brushy grass area. Based on that viewing, I
think it is the same BRSP seen back in December and January. Unlike then,
though, it seemed extremely wary. I looked around for about 45 minutes
after that and could not relocate the bird. This is probably the 5th time
I've birded Occoquan since seeing the BRSP 1/1/2012 and the first time I
have seen this bird again. I had assumed it was long gone.
I would not normally post such a brief, unsubstantiated sighting of a rare
bird. However, having seen the bird up close and photographed it
previously, a number of field marks (present and absent) were immediately
apparent to me. I'm hoping that others who are in OBNWR birding will keep
an eye out and verify that the BRSP is indeed still in residence.
A beautiful morning at Occoquan with a lot of sparrow activity. High point
of the morning prior to the BRSP were two male Scaup, a Greater and a
Lesser, on the Painted Turtle Pond. I probably took 50 pictures of them
side by side. They were with some Ring-necked Ducks and Gadwall.
Cheers,
Russ Taylor
