Le Conte's Sparrow

Needless to say, this is not the kind of photo I like taking, but this is all I could get of this distant little Le Conte's Sparrow.

I only have two old photos of a Le Conte’s Sparrow on my photostream, as this is a bird I don’t usually see – and then, on 28 May 2016, during our May Species Count in Fish Creek Park (my group covered the Votier’s Flats and Shaw’s Meadow area), we saw the Sparrow in this photo. A very nice bird to include in our list of species.

“A small, orange-faced sparrow of wet grasslands and grassy meadows, the Le Conte's Sparrow is difficult to see because of its secretive nature. On the breeding grounds it usually sings from concealed perches and in the winter it rarely remains in the open for more than a second.” From AllABoutBirds.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Le_Contes_Sparrow/id

“It is a very secretive bird that prefers to spend most of its time on the ground under the cover of tall grasses. They are typically very difficult to flush, often only flushing at a distance of 1–3 m as they prefer to run across the ground. When they do emerge they rarely fly more than a foot or two above the grass and often descend again within a few meters. Because it is so rarely seen, there are still many gaps in knowledge about the Le Conte’s sparrow. Nests are often very hard to find, and individuals are more often identified by sound than by sight.” From Wikipedia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Conte%27s_sparrow

I will add the final list from our Leader, Gus Yaki. Some of the group (myself included) only did the Count in the morning (4 hours of walking) and three people continued in the afternoon.

FFCPPSoc. Birding, May species count, Terr. #2, Votier’s Flats, FCPP, from Macleod Tr to Bridge #6, SW Calgary, 0800-1400, Sat. 28May2016. 8 km. Mostly sunny, becoming overcast at noon, light sprinkle, calm, becoming windy from N, 10 kph. 6 to 13°C.

1.Canada Goose-17
2.Gadwall-2
3.American Wigeon-2
4.Mallard-36.
5.Blue-winged Teal-3
6.Redhead-2
7.Bufflehead-1
8.Common Goldeneye-2
9.Common Merganser-1
10.Ring-necked Pheasant-3
11.American White Pelican-27
12.Great Blue Heron-1 (cw)
13.Turkey Vulture-1 (cw)
14.Osprey-2
15.Cooper’s Hawk-1 (cw)
16.Swainson’s Hawk-3
17.Red-tailed Hawk-2
18.Sora-1
19.Killdeer-1 (cw)
20.Spotted Sandpiper-12
21.Franklin’s Gull-78
22.Rock Pigeon-2
23.Northern Saw-whet Owl-1, seen by Jordan Peshev.
24.Belted Kingfisher-2
25.Downy Woodpecker-2
26.Northern Flicker-5.
27.Least Flycatcher-3
28.Red-eyed Vireo-1
29.Black-billed Magpie-4
30.American Crow-4
31.Common Raven-6
32.Tree Swallow-15
33.Northern Rough-winged Swallow-5
34.Bank Swallow-204
35.Black-capped Chickadee-11
36.Red-breasted Nuthatch-4
37.White-breasted Nuthatch-2
38.House Wren-4
39.American Robin-35
40.Gray Catbird-2
41.European Starling-8
42.Tennessee Warbler-2
43.Yellow Warbler-24
44.Chipping Sparrow-4 (cw)
45.Clay-coloured Sparrow-18
46.Savannah Sparrow-3
47.Le Conte’s Sparrow-1
48.Song Sparrow-1
49.Lincoln’s Sparrow-1 (cw)
50.White-throated Sparrow-7
51.Rose-breasted Grosbeak-2 (cw)
52.Red-winged Blackbird-78
53.Yellow-headed Blackbird-2
54.Brown-headed Cowbird-19
55.Baltimore Oriole-2 (cw)
56.House Finch-7
57.Pine Siskin-1
58.American Goldfinch-7
59.House Sparrow-3

Red Squirrel-4
Muskrat-2
Mule Deer-1
Spring Azure butterfly-3
Red-disked Alpine-3