Tag: Harris’s Sparrow

It was another beautiful sunny and cool day when I made my way out to Reifel to help out on the trails this afternoon. Lots of other people were out enjoying it as well, as the parking lot was packed when I arrived. Highlights from the last couple of days were Bohemian Waxwing and a Harris’s Sparrow. On starting out I made a brief stop at Fuller’s Slough to look a the Black-crowned Night-Heron. There are two juvenile birds along with the adults this winter.

The first juveniles here in a few years and one of the adults did provide a good look and fairly unobstructed photo. From here I made my out along the east dyke trail. The Great Horned Owl pair were roosting together high in a tree, but not in a good spot for photos. This did not stop many from trying while most just enjoyed seeing them. I was not going to attempt looking for the Harris’s Sparrow at this time as there were just too many people along the trail keeping the sparrows in the bushes. While strolling around the other trails I could not turn up any waxwings. Later in the afternoon I made my way back to the east dyke trail. As the number of people had diminished somewhat, the sparrows were making there way back out on to the trails in between groups.

It did not take too long before I spotted the Harris’s Sparrow. This is a bird that would normally migrate from the arctic through the middle of Canada and is a rare visitor for this area. While still being flushed back into the bushes occasionally by small groups,

… the Harris’s Sparrow would pop back out not long after they passed by. It provided great looks for myself and others.

At one point it was quite content feeding on seeds left by visitors on this tree stump. It has been about six years since I last saw and photographed a Harris’s Sparrow, so this was definitely the highlight of my day.