Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Pooecetes gramineus

Needless to say, this photo is being posted for ID help, not for any photographic merit : ) Unfortunately, this little bird was so far away and the sunlight was harsh. Took a few quick shots of it, as it looked like something different from the small Sparrows I would normally see. It was taken on 9 September 2016, SE of Vulcan, on my way home from a trip to the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre in Coaldale, near Lethbridge. Many thanks, Ron (Kube), for the ID. Have also just heard back from friend and excellent birder, Tony T, and he said that "the strong eye ring points to Vesper Sparrow". Thanks, both of you, for the ID! I wasn't sure if I had ever seen or photographed a Vesper Sparrow before, but I discovered that I have five previous (and much better) images on Flickr. Maybe i will post one of them in a comment box below.

A third and final photo of this little Vesper Sparrow that we saw at Confluence Park a while ago. I'm not very likely to get another shot of this species, so thought I'd add all three to my Birds of Alberta Set. "Vesper Sparrows are birds of dry, open areas with grass or stubble, such as grasslands, cultivated fields, pastures, roadsides, and parkland meadows. In this habitat they are common to fairly common in the southern two-thirds of Alberta except the mountains, and uncommon to scarce in the northern third." From talkaboutwildlife.ca .

A well-cropped photo of this Vesper Sparrow, taken three days ago during a walk at Confluence Park. Oh, it feels so strange to be uploading a bird photo after all the flowers and fungi of summer! Not the greatest shot (messy on the left), but it is the first closer photo I've taken of a Vesper Sparrow. Has chestnut shoulder patch and white eye ring. "Vesper Sparrows are birds of dry, open areas with grass or stubble, such as grasslands, cultivated fields, pastures, roadsides, and parkland meadows. In this habitat they are common to fairly common in the southern two-thirds of Alberta except the mountains, and uncommon to scarce in the northern third." From talkaboutwildlife.ca .

Another cropped view of the little Vesper Sparrow we heard and saw at Confluence Park a week ago. Not exactly the most photogenic surroundings, but I was just happy to get a few photos of this little Sparrow. By the way, something weird has been going on with Flickr the last three or four days. I don't know if my "new" updates are not showing up on some people's Home Page or if there is something else not happening. I do know I only received one comment in a space of 15 hours, which is most unusual and very strange : ) If anyone happens to have noticed anything, either with my photostream or their own, it would be really interesting to hear : )