@anonsally was asking for bird photos from my and my partner in crime’s current trip to the mountains; I’ll probably share some bird photos later, but this morning’s (windy) hike involved a singing Brewer’s sparrow and green-tailed towhee, so I took some video.

I needed to use a wind screen on the camera. I actually have one, but left it in the car. Apologies; I’m a video newbie.

Reposted from https://lies.tumblr.com/post/654733944117444608.

debunkshy:

Brewer’s Sparrow (documentary)

Florida Canyon, AZ, 1-14-17

#292

I got used to seeing Brewer’s Sparrows in the sagebrush on my trips to Mammoth this summer, so I was already familiar with their understated charm. I’d never seen one in Santa Barbara county though. So it was exciting to see a post to the sbcobirding list from Hugh yesterday that one was at Eling’s Park.

Some research in eBird and Lehman’s Birds of Santa Barbara County taught me that Brewer’s Sparrows have showed up at Eling’s Park during fall migration a few times in recent years. I got up early to chase this one, but as I walked the park at dawn I wasn’t very hopeful. Sparrows that aren’t singing on their breeding territory can be tough to spot, and for birds that don’t stand out (and even for some that do) chasing a rarity often is a low-probability sort of thing.

So I wasn’t expecting too much. I enjoyed wandering the park, though, birding a spot I’d never birded before. I spun a new Pokéstop and took over a new gym, so that part was a success. After two hours I’d basically given up, and was giving the gym one last spin, by the big semicircular stone bench near where the paragliders take off (apparently; they weren’t flying this morning), when there it was, hopping on the ground under a small pepper tree: Brewer’s Sparrow. 🙂

I don’t have actual numbers, but I feel like that happens a lot. It’s only when I’ve given up, gotten out of my own way, that I finally relax and see the bird.

Reposted from http://lies.tumblr.com/post/177661946451.