speakingofnature: The song of a Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus…
The song of a Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) was clearly audible today at a Hickory Hills Park grassland. Its reluctance to leave the area is a good indication that it may be nesting.
The population of these sparrows has declined dramatically over the last fifty years. The foremost cause for this decline is a loss of habitat, as well as the fragmenting and degrading of grasslands.
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Brad Hacker (local geology professor and impressively obsessive birder) reported one of these at Ellwood Mesa in Santa Barbara yesterday. I’d never seen one before (not just this year; ever). Brad included specific coordinates where the bird was singing, so I stopped by on my way back from seeing the Fulvous Whistling-Duck to see if he would still be there.
And he was! I got a recording of him singing (along with a House Finch; it’s hard to make a bird recording anywhere in the U.S. without including a House Finch), and a crappy digiscoped photo:
Reposted from http://lies.tumblr.com/post/172803858256.
Tags: birds, carp without cars, grsp, santa barbara county year list.
