Return to "The Case of the Unsolved Mystery Sparrow"

We all recognize that everyone is an individual and everything is an individual. Birds do not vary from this time honored rule. Yet some birds individuality can be more easily recognized than others. It is quite common for a birder to scan a flock of Canada Geese and come across one of these unique individuals; a bird with an all white head or perhaps a bird that lacks the Canada Goose's prominent white cheek. It is thus understandable that identification of some common bird could quickly turn into something much bigger.


The white eye-ring and the pink bill; both these field marks suggest Vesper Sparrow.
Photo by Christian Nunes

Some of you may remember the post I put up in January of last year. This post described my dilemma after coming across a sparrow which bore such a resemblance to both a Song (SOSP) and a Savannah Sparrow (SAVS), and equally to a Vesper (VESP). It seemed at the time, and still does today, unidentifiable. Today I plan to return to this birds strange and quite mysterious features and see if I can shed some light on it.

At first glance this bird appears to be a Savannah Sparrow but on closer inspection the birds broad malar stripe and the lack of of yellow on the lores suggest that this bird is a Song Sparrow (although not all SAVS have yellow lores). Yet now we notice the dainty pink bill and the spotting at the base of the lateral throat-stripes (the lateral throat-stripes are squeezed tightly in between the malar and the throat). The throat-stripe is dark and unspotted at the base in the SOSP. Now I'm sure you're all as confused me.


Notice the broad, buff malar and the strange colored streaking on the underparts.
Photo by Christian Nunes

So far it sounds that it's more likely a SAVS yet we still have not ruled out the VESP. This species seems quite unlikely due to the season and its rareness in the general area. But despite these facts some field marks seem to fit this species well although while others work against it. The VESP is a large drab sparrow, usually found in pastures and fields, it's two identifying field marks are it's white outer tail feathers which flash when in flight and the rufous coloring on the lesser coverts, which is unmistakable when seen but unfortunately these feathers usually remain hidden. Seeing that neither the tail or the lesser coverts weren't easily visible they didn't help us much.

The eye-ring is large and very white, this suggests a VESP. The crown seems to be streaked heavily, although each streak is very light. Yet there is a greater number of field marks which rule out a VESP: the malar stripe doesn't seem to wrap around behind the cheek, the back half of the supercilium seems to light and broad, the streaking on the underparts seems far to dark and thick, and like the SOSP the lateral throat stripe is unspotted.


Notice the thin streaking on the crown also suggesting Vesper Sparrow.
Photo by Ben Shamgochian

Enter "Ipswich" Savannah Sparrow. The "Ipswich" Savannah Sparrow is a large very pale subspecies of SAVS which breeds only on Sable Island, Nova Scotia and Winters all along the East coast. Although those of you that have seen my photo may be wondering why I would be considering an "Ipswich" when the bird in my photo is so dark. I tend to think that the photo I took is too dark. When comparing my shot with my brothers photo of the same bird taken at the same time one finds the color difference shocking. Also some photos of the same bird were taken by Christian Nunes (which seem to be in between mine and my brothers photos lighting wise) and by some New Jersey birder (who I don't know the name of), both ID'd it as an "Ipswich".


Compared with the "Ipswich" Savannah Sparrow on the right hand side our bird appears much darker, and all around different.
Photo by Christian Nunes

Then there is always the possibility that this bird is a hybrid. Ten percent of all bird species hybridize, eight percent of these are Passerines. Sparrows do occasionally hybridize, most hybrids are usually derive from birds in the Zonotchrica genus, but there is always the remote possibility that one could stumble across a Savannah x Song, or a Song x Lincoln's or something along the general line. I must say that although this bird showed no field marks pertaining to Lincoln's, the latter of the two hybrids is far more likely, both species being in the genus Melospiza while the SAVS is in the genus Passerculus. Maybe the sparrow that would look most like this bird would be a Savannah x Vesper Sparrow. But that this bird is a hybrid seems unlikely.

There is one more option I haven't considered: a 1/2 hybrid. David Sibley says that “Ipswich” Savannah Sparrows will breed with the more common subspecies when they come in contact. Though James D. Rising (a SAVS expert) points out that their breeding ranges don't overlap.
A subspecies hybrid seems to me more likely to be seen in the wild then a full hybrid. Maybe this is what we saw.


Photo by the NJ birder.

But without more information we probably wont be able to positively ID it. DNA testing would have been nice. I should have remembered to take a feather sample to run through my tree house genetic research tree house laboratory - next time I won't forget! They actually did test the DNA of a rare Rufous Hummingbird in Illinois, for identification purposes. Ref. Winging It Vol. 24, No. 1, February 2012, pg. 1).

Hopefully this post will restart the discussion on its identity that ended months ago. I love a good on-line bicker.


From left to right White-throated (upper left), Savannah (regular), "Ipswich" Savannah and the strange sparrow.
Photo by the NJ birder

Tell me what you think of this bird in the comments section of this post, I look forward to reading your replies!

Feb/26th-27th Excitements

Today we had to collect our father from his school job at the Providence Country Day School, where he is a Latin teacher. Passing the baseball field a white browed face showed itself to me, the sight sent tremors of excitement through my body. Arriving in the school parking lot, I was extra quick to leap from the car and slowly sneak across the field (camera in hand) to where I had seen this wonder, surely to the amusement of the nearby lacrosse players. Finally I reached a point close enough to raise my camera with any hope of getting a reasonable shot. "Snap" went the shutter, and in a second my photo materialized on the camera screen. There in the center of the image, surrounded on all sides by Canada Geese was a Greater White-fronted Goose. There seemed to be a little tension between the two species, and I captured photos of each species chasing the other. A hundred photos like the first quickly followed, but all too soon I had to return to the rest of my waiting family.

The Greater White-fronted Goose.

My prized goose.

A rare long necked duck, aka. a goose, with its more common relatives.

Have you ever seen a goose sprint - look at the orange feet.

Earlier in the day at RISD Beach I had been happy to find three Killdeer to lighten a quite birdless walk. Killdeer are rare this early in the year!

One of the three Killdeers at RISD Beach

A Ring-billed Gull

On the 26th we went for a walk at Borderland State Park. For the first half of the walk we literally didn't see a thing, then activity struck. Scanning the first pond we came to, I found nine Common Goldeneyes, three American Black-Ducks, two Canada Geese and one Mute Swan, in that order. Then a large black form was seen landing in a tree in the woods, having flown up from the ground. The Turkey Vulture posed for about minute before taking off to circle low above the trees, hoping in vain that our dog was not at that moment devouring whatever it was that the vulture had previously been gulping down. Did you know that vultures have been known to eat until flight is practically impossible with the pounds they had gained from their meal.

A Turkey Vulture

Later that day a pair of Killdeer were the lucky focus of our attention. Seen feeding in the baseball field of Hockomock Area YMCA. Baseball fields seem to be really good for birding - maybe I should take up the bat.

Feb/25/2012 Pardon Gray Preserve, Tiverton, RI

Reports have recently been leaking out on a flock of Eastern Meadowlarks sharing the fields of Pardon Gray Preserve with a flock of starlings. When I said that "reports have recently been leaking out on a flock of Eastern Meadowlarks" I was referring to the RI bird alert and did not mean that the reports were literally leaking on the meadowlarks which would be quite unpleasant for the poor birds.

Today being a Saturday with a blank calendar, we (thankfully) had no excuse not to go for a long car drive to some long hike. The wind today was a force to be reckoned with which ruled out beach birding leaving us with Pardon Gray Preserve and Weetamo Woods. These are two connecting wooded sanctuaries which form a large green square on any map of Tiverton, RI. We had recently visited Weetamo and been very pleased with what we had found. The woods there are a mix of Holly and hardwood which form a quite impressive forest stage for the migrants which soon will pour into this beautiful woodland.

Weetamo Woods is actually one of the most successful wooded birding Rhode Island locations drawing many a birder with exciting prospects of seeing Acadian Flycatchers in their only Rhode Island stronghold. Yet these birds where not be found here now and the meadowlarks were just too great an opportunity to pass up. I have never seen a meadowlark before. It is one of my biggest birding gripes and here was an chance to set that straight.

Fourty-five minutes after deciding to go to Pardon Gray I was watching wide eyed as a yellow bellied bird with a distinctive black necklace and light brown mottled back flew by me. Even more amazing then seeing this life bird was that it had taken less then a minute after stepping out of the car to find this bird. Ahhh sweet satisfaction, the heavy wait of having never seen an Eastern Meadowlark eased from my chest and floated away to torment some other unfortunate birder.

These meadowlarks were surprisingly easy to find though photographing them was a whole other matter. My auto focus didn't work because it decided that the grass was more worthy of it's attention then these handsome 9" birds. Failed by my auto focus I was forced to rely on the manual focus. Trying to focus on a bird flying away from you is quite impossible and my task was quite useless. I did however succeed in making the meadowlarks fly which was not part of my intention.

There were at least 15 meadowlarks in the field most feeding in small flocks of four, although at the end of our hike the meadowlarks had been joined by the previously reported mass of starlings who seemed to find the soggy field as appealing as any suet feeder.

Eastern Meadowlark

Eastern Meadowlark

The field filled with meadowlarks and starlings

One of Pardon Gray's coolest features is the old family cemetery in the middle of the field.
You can't see the gravestones in this picture for they're behind that handsome stone wall which takes up most of this picture.

Literally nothing stirred in the woods except for a few wet dogs and their walking companions and of course us. Not even the call of a chickadee came to our ears although now that I think of it I did, to my surprise, for I'm far more used to seeing them in a more open habitat, see three Northern Flickers fly up from the ground deep in the woods, their white rumps vigorously blazing their identity.

I was also surprised when I found the source of the large numbers of Herring Gulls flying over the woodlands. A dump, a dump! It wasn't shown on the trail map. I was thrilled I finally had my chance to go birding in a dump. I could see hundreds of gulls circling over those inviting piles of trash. My dreams of frolicking through the trash and gulls was not to be fulfilled and I was quickly pulled away by my impatient parents. For God's sake I didn't even see a Ring-billed Gull let alone an Iceland Gull in the time I was allowed to scan the cloud of wheeling forms before I was pulled (wailing pitifully) away!

We all were quite delighted to come across a large rock face rising above the treetops which is something which RI has a great lack of. Rock faces, that is, not treetops! From the top, from over a distant rise a lone Turkey Vulture drifted.

Good job to anyone who correctly ID'd the Black-bellied Plover in the last photo quiz.
Here is your next quiz.

This was taken on Cape Cod this February. Good Luck!

New camera and some AMAZING birding at Hampshire College

I want to start with an apology for having not posted for such a long time and now that I have said that let me dive into the first of todays to topics.

As some of you may know (especially the people that helped me save up the money) I have been counting quarters for a little over half an arduous year, saving for a DSLR camera. My brother was also saving and, I must admit was ahead of me moneywise. He has just created a photography blog. Click the link if you dare!

I finally had enough money with the recent arrival of the long awaited family tax return. Just a few weeks after my old Sony point-and-shoot had finally, after years of bumps and bruises, given out. I am now strutting, with my chest puffed out proudly, in full optical regalia with a Canon Rebel T3 swinging from my shoulder. The quality of the images taken by this new camera is more than I could have dreamed for.

A few of my favorite shots are shown below:

I'm actually pretty proud of myself for only taking about 200 photos of this Sanderling on Conimicut Point in Warwick.

This Turkey Vulture delighted us with his daredevil swoops which breezed him mere inches over the treetops of Chase Farm in Lincoln.

This one of the many Ring-billed Gulls at chilling at Conimicut Point.

A Black-capped Chickadee scolds me for standing so close to the bird feeders in our grandparent's backyard.

And this is Chase Farms very own resident white Red-tailed Hawk. I am unsure if this white coloring is natural or derives from some government experiment gone terribly wrong. Probably NOT the latter now that I think of it.

I admit that the last photo isn't that good but it's not every day that you see a pure white hawk!

Now we come to todays second topic which is equally exciting. Seeing that you've probably already read the title of this post I need not tell you where I was birding on the sunny afternoon of February 18th. Just in case you didn't read the title, we were birding Hampshire College. Hampshire College is located in Amherst, Massachusetts where it is surrounded by small dome shaped mountains and the usual prized attraction of our family's attention Atkins Farm, a small bakery and exclusive food market. Yet today Atkins pastries didn't even excite me as I was so worked up, the reason of this so called "working up" I will relate to you now. In early November of last year a Dickcissel was found sharing the twigs with House Sparrows in the bushes surrounding the Yiddish Book Center which is located across the street from Atkins Farm and on the outskirts of the college campus. Amherst Massachusetts is clearly not an Ohio meadow where it can typically be found residing. This small House Sparrow-like species amazingly is still lingering here and delighting the local birder population. After MONTHS of begging I finally convinced my parents to take us across the street from Atkins (which we visit fairly regularly I might add: they obviously aren't always totally obliging to my countless birding demands).

When I hippity-hopped out of the car I was fairly twitching with excitement. Thought ran though my head: what if it didn't show?, what if it showed but not well enough for us to confirm that it wasn't just a House Sparrow?, what if...you get the idea. We gave the area a quick but fairly thorough search and came up with a few House Sparrows and a flock of Dark-eyed Junco. Sorrowfully plodding back to the car with tears rolling down my face in a never ending stream resembling Niagra Falls in their intensity, I was surprised to come face to face with a young teenaged birder. He kindly guided us to where he had last seen the Dickcissel. It was instantaneous; one second there was nothing there, the next second the flock of Dark-eyed Juncos flew up from the ground chittering their snappy little calls and with them the larger yellow chested form of the Dickcissel appeared. I was delighted for this was life bird number 262.

The young birder who had helped us find the Dickcissel kindly pointed us in the right direction to the roosting site of a Long-eared Owl which is extremely valued information in the birding world. Better yet this roost was literally on the Hampshire campus. What could be better? Not finding this bird was just not a considerable option!

At first we had trouble finding the scent but we soon located it (I'm sorry but I am not supposed to tell you where exactly this roost was located so as not to drive the owl from its home). Soon after we discovered the trail we were silently and carefully scanning the thick stand of pines in which the owl roosted. Not a mottled feather was seen though I knew quite well that this medium sized owl was watching our every move with it's keen yellow eyes bearing a shocking resemblance to the cartoon character Coach McGuirk after days with no sleep.

Disappointed we started back towards the car, heads drooped in sorrow once again. I was interested however to find a small spattering of whitewash (owl droppings) this must have come from the vent of the previously mentioned Long-eared Owl. I scanned the trees above this white splotch but saw no hunched form. Raising the camera I took two shots of the whitewash in quick succession with my new Canon.

I haven't yet figured out how to turn the shutter on mute and currently it creates the most annoying noise, one that every person who has ever heard camera knows well. It is a noise which sounds quite similar to the scoldings of a chickadee, at least this is what a pair of nearby chickadees thought. We followed these two chickadees who started calling excitedly and moving quickly towards the stand of pines which we had just vacated. We followed them hopeful and praying that the owl was in these little birds sites. Entering the stand of pines I was still unable to see anything other than twigs and of course the chickadees who seemed to be scolding nothing. Then Ben's hoarse whispered exclamation came from my right and at the same moment the sought after owl took flight from where he had carefully tucked himself away and shot smoothly into the soon to be dark woodlands of Hampshire College.

Bird Watchers Digest Young Birders Contest

The birds and balmy weather have favored me recently. On the 4th of February we saw the continuing presence of Tundra Swans at Tiogue Lake in Warwick. At RISD Beach in Barrington in the last few days we had a male Northern Pintail hanging out with the very large American Black-Duck/Mallard flock and a handsome Gray Catbird in the small wooded lot behind the marsh. They were all year birds.

This winter seems to have been going through violent changes in the weather. One day there's six inches of snow layering the street, the next we're wearing shorts and t-shirts!

Anyway, the main reason I am writing this post is to get down on my slightly scraped and quite scarred knees and beg my readers to follow this link (http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/leicagreatleap/index.php) and recommend me to win the pair of Leica binoculars that are being donated to one lucky young birder (ages 12-18) by Bird Watchers Digest, one of my favorite magazines. All you need to do is:

1. follow the link,
2. click "nominate a young birder"
3. write your name and email address where asked and
4. write my name (John Shamgochian), my age (13), what type of binoculars I have (Vortex Furies 8X32 which I was thrilled to win for my entry in the 2009 young birder of the year contest) and why I need to win this pair of Leica binoculars. Other than the overwhelming fact that Leica offers of the most expensive and sharpest optics in the world please say that the reason that I need them is because my binoculars are currently monoculars which means that my focus knob focuses the two sides separately so while my left eye (the eye that I favor) is getting a nice look at a Lesser Scaup my right eye is focused on a branch 15 feet closer. I had this problem repaired once but a few days after having them fixed the same problem came back. They will also ask you for some more information about me. You could just mention that I won third place overall in the 2010 Young Birder of the Year contest sponsored by the ABA (the American Birding Association) and that I am currently one of the five student blog editors of the ABA's young birders blog The Eyrie. Oh, and you might give them a link to this blog. I would be so very grateful if you could do this for me as it is very hard looking through half focused binoculars! Thank you!

Review #3

The Crossley ID Guide - Eastern Birds

"Turning Birding Upside Down" reads the literally upside down double page advertisement for the Crossley ID Guide. It was instantly clear to me that this guide was going to revolutionize the birding world.

Six months later I was holding this very book in my hands and reverently flipping through the pages.

The Crossley is a big book not the slim, dog eared, field guides that birders can carry out in the field tucked away in a back pocket. This is more of a lap book designed for the birder to memorize the birds while sitting in their living room and sipping a cup of tea or coffee not while cruising through a field of waves on a pelagic trip.

What so attracted me and thousands of other bird enthusiasts to the guide were the stunning illustrations which have been put together in a way never before seen on the pages of a North American guide and probably not in any of the worlds many guides. A guide unique to itself. Photographic guides have rarely used more then five images for any one species and here was a book using hundreds of photographs. All the photographs were taken by the author.

Each plate is mosaic of richly layered photoshopped images; dragging and placing over 10,000 photos of 640 species. An individual, or sometimes two, in each different plumage is placed in the foreground while many more birds of the same species can be seen in the background. Often the birds in background are no more then specks. Crossley calls this reality birding. I enjoy it when I am able to recognize a place that I have birded, namely the sandy beaches of Cape May.

All these birds are placed on a background image showing the habitat the species is likely to be found in. Common and uncommon species are each given a whole page while rarities, vagrants and species restricted in range have half a page or less for their illustration and descriptions.

The descriptions discuss, habitat, status, identification, and often voice. Each description is written in a light tone along the lines of this: "Elegant and beautiful, or big and nasty, take your pick as both can apply. Takes over it's patch, immediately attacking any other swan that dares to come nearby. Nest is large and conspicuous. Young are protected zealously: an adult, standing it's ground, has hissed fear into many a human.". Quoted from Crossley's description of the Mute Swan.

The Crossley ID Guide is a very enjoyable book to read. It's the type of book I can spend hours thumbing through and still have not had enough.

Instead of the usual taxonomical order this book is arranged in the order which Crossley, Howell, O'Brien, Sullivan, Wood, and Lewington suggested in their November 2009 article in Birding titled "Taxonomy Vs. Utility" (pg. 44). They suggest that guides should be arranged in this order:
1. Swimming birds such as Alcids and Cormorants
2. Flying birds such as Tropicbirds and Gulls
3. Walking birds such as Oystercatchers and Herons.
4. Upland Gamebirds such as Quails and Grouse
5. Raptors such as Vultures and Falcons
6. Miscellaneous Larger landbirds such as Corvids and Nightjars.
7. Aerial Land birds such as Hummingbirds and Swifts.
8. Songbirds such as Tyrant-Flycatchers and Finches.

I find this a very reasonable ordering compared to some guides arrangements. Case in point: the American Bird Conservancy's All the Birds of North America muddled organization.

The body size measurements are given but wing span measurements are surprisingly absent; these on occasions could have been useful.

Next to the scientific and English names are the banding codes aka "alpha codes". I, for one, have not yet come across a guide which uses the codes so extensively. In the descriptions when Crossley mentions another species he will put the birds banding code in place of the full English name. For example in the description of the Tundra Swan (TUSW) Crossley writes: "Slightly smaller than MUSW with shorter and straighter neck. Head and bill profile strikingly different. With head tucked in, shorter tail is quite easy to pick out (TRUS is also short tailed).". This at times can be confusing if you haven't memorized all the codes - a challenging task. But these codes do allow more room for the text which is squished below the prominent illustrations.

Beside the descriptions are the range maps which look puny next to the oversized illustrations. These maps are no smaller then any other field guides and their puniness is just an illusion.

Occasionally a keen sighted reader will come across a stray species such as the puffins floating unobtrusively in the background of the Common Murre plate or the American Coot hiding behind an American Wigeon in the American Wigeon plate. I am unsure if these birds where intended to be in the background. For a beginner it may cause a misidentification though that is highly unlikely considering that these puffins are barely more then spots in the background and when a species is in better focus such as the Northern Pintails in the Cinnamon Teals plate it is almost always mentioned. I think that often times these species are used for size comparison, such as the male Mallard which is in the Cackling Goose plate. I have found the spot-the-stray-species game an enjoyable pursuit; a birders Where's Waldo.

I think this is an amazing guide and I look forward to the promised The Crossley ID Guide - British Birds and The Crossley ID Guide - Western Birds.

One can visit Crossley's website for more information on the book as well as some videos giving tips on birding, www.crossleybooks.com/.

I've had some great birding recently. On the the 10th I saw the Snowy Owl on Island Rocks at Sachuest Point NWR. This bird had been seen there since the 5th: really cool. My third Snowy in two weeks. Is it just me or has everyone noticed that quite often when you finally get a life bird you suddenly find yourself seeing this species on a regular basis. This was the case with the Barred Owl and the Roughed Grouse on my life list. Following this pattern I bet I'll see tons of Red Necked Grebes the next time I can convince my parents to bring us down to Satchuest.

I had an adult Bald Eagle circling over the Washington Bridge on the Providence/East Providence line. Wild Turkeys spotted grazing by the side of the Col. Rodman Highway and a very needed lifer Red-necked Grebe at Beavertail State Park.

So far I have seen 74 species of birds this year.

Good job to anybody who identified the last the two Dunlin and the Greater Yellowlegs in the last photo quiz. Here's your next quiz.

This photo was taken some time in November at Nayat Point in Barrington, RI

Dec/27/11 Parker River NWR aka. Plum Island: the greatest birding hotspot in New England

This year my family's annual "Solstice Bird Count" was delayed due to numerous factors and instead our walk was conducted on the 27th at Plum Island, the #1 birding hotspot of New England.

We (me, my brother and my grandfather) arrived at the Audubon, the clock reading 12:40pm giving us about 4 hours to see loads of life birds here at Joppa Flats and at Plum Island. Joppa Flats is a tiny speck of land located on the Southern side of Newburyport Harbor. Despite its size many an awesomely amazing bird has been sighted here by some overjoyed birder like Pomarine Jaeger and Black Skimmer.

Many Canada Geese, Mallards, Black Ducks and Buffleheads littered the water in front of the visitor center all divided into small flocks. As we were losing hope of seeing anything in the least bit interesting here I noticed a medium sized dabbling duck whizzing by overhead with fast shallow wing beats. What gave the bird's identity away was its overly large and ungainly bill. It was a female Northern Shoveler, a nice bird for the area and a great start for the day.

Although the Shoveler had seemed a good omen at the time we quickly realized that the birding wasn't half what we had hoped for. The quantity of American Black Ducks, Canada Geese and American Robins was vastly bloated while not much else stirred with the exception of a few Mallards and gulls.

Birding began picking up when we spotted a female Northern Pintail accompanying sixty or so Black Ducks in their wild endeavor to devour the marsh. It was a large slender duck with a long elegant neck and a dark blue black bill. Along with being a very handsome dabbler it was also a year bird. Way on the other side of the marsh we spotted a few small sandpipers wheeling about, their identity remains unknown but I suspect that they were Dunlins. We were surprised to see a posse of five Wild Turkeys making their way across the road and sweetly posing for the cameras.

A posse of turkeys - that is actually the official group title for turkeys.

Although we didn't check Hellcat Swamp's famed boardwalk we did go up the observation tower; a great place for viewing Snowy Owls and other fascinating birds, mostly in the duck department. Hellcat Swamp is a marshy section of the refuge, most of the Swamp is taken up by a wet deciduous forest, but also affords great looks at the salt marsh, which is best viewed from the previously mentioned observation tower. From the tower I could see a few Mute Swans, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser and scaup of both species in the pond which had been dammed off by a dike on which the tower stands. In the marsh were a few American Black Ducks and Mallards.

A male Lesser Scaup

We learned from one of the many birders we discovered traipsing the refuge that the Snowy Owls where being seen at parking lot #7, aka Stage Island, at the very Southernly tip of the refuge. Lot number seven also had access to an observation tower along with an observation deck on the sand dunes which gives great looks at the ocean. On our way to lot seven I spotted a distant raptor perched precariously on the top of a bare tree which overlooked the marsh. Scoping it out from the car I was able to see that the bird had a dark back with a few splotches of white, a head (which most birds have) patterned like that of the Marsh Harrier of Eurasia, and when it took flight I was able to see the whitish tail with a black tip. All these field marks suggested a Rough-legged Hawk. As we continued down the road that leads a straight path through the refuge, I re-spotted the raptor. This time perched on an Osprey nesting platform. A tall sturdy wooden poll stuck into the marsh with a wooden rostrum placed on top, always the favored nesting site of any reasonable Osprey. This time the raptor was too far to ID but probably the same hawk as before. Talking to some other birders who had seen the hawk on the tree, we learned that their ID was completely different from ours. Though not certain, our group all leaned towards Rough-legged Hawk, they however, swore that the bird had been a juvenile Bald Eagle; a species I had instantly ruled out when I saw the size of the birds bill. Silently I categorized them as "dumbasses" and then we continued on our way.

We continued on to lot number seven. Scanning from the top of Stage Islands observation tower I picked out a few pintails and a mockingbird. Then turning our backs on the marsh we went to scan the dunes and beach. There wasn't a Snowy to be found.

The ocean was littered with eiders, scoters and mergansers, most of the birds gathered about a group of rocks which projected from the water in a set of gray humps. The large majority of the ducks were Common Eiders but many were White-winged and Black Scoters while others showed the distinctive field marks of Red-breasted Mergansers. Also on the water were a few Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls, loons of both species and some Horned Grebes. We were unable pick up a Red-necked Grebe, a bird which leaves a horrible blank spot on my life list.

We were informed by some other birders that the bird which we had seen on the Osprey platform WAS a "young, light morph, Rough-legged Hawk". We trusted the birder that had told us it was a Rough-leg but we decided to wait for a better look before marking it on our life lists.

By now the sun was sinking slowly below the horizon and our birding time was running short. We still hadn't seen a Snowy.

We started back down the refuge road heading towards parking lot #3 where we planned to wait for the owl to show. American Robins where everywhere gathering in large flocks which, come nightfall would descend upon the trees of the refuge blanketing them in a layer of sleeping birds. Two raptors soared low over a field by the side of the road, one clearly was a harrier, the other we weren't sure on having only caught a glimpse. This unidentified bird landed in a tree 20 ft away from one of the many parking lots on the side of the road. Pulling our car to a squeeling stop we hopped out only to see the hawk fly to a more distant tree. Watching the hawk in flight I was able to make out the distinctive wing pattern of a Rough-legged Hawk. I set my scope on the bird, my grandfather doing the same with his scope. Although the light was now fading fast we were able to make out many of the field marks which identify a Rough-leg. Due to the light and distance I wasn't able to get any good photos of the bird but amazingly my brother, who I have also classified in the order of Dumbass, took some much more reasonable photos with his Ipod through my grandfathers scope. The birders who had identified the last Rough-legged Hawk we had seen where there and for a second time that day they confirmed our suspisions that this was a "young, light morph, Rough-legged hawk". This time we had no doubt of its identity, a Rough-legged most certainly was.

We kept the car moving onward to parking lot 3 passing one of the two (very late) Great Egrets still hanging around the refuge. They are amazingly late for the season. This time it wasn't a hawk which waylaid us but the ranger, spreading the news of a report of a Snowy Owl which had been seen perched on the dike some 20 minutes earlier from the parking lot which we had just vacated. So we turned the car around and headed back up the road. We were unable to see the owl from the parking lot where we had seen the Rough-leg so we decided to check out the tower at Hellcat again from where we would have a great view of the dike.

Walking up the path which leads the observation tower, I spotted a small sparrow fly up from the side of the path and land in a bush. The bird was probably an American Tree Sparrow - but I didn't have time to identify it, for at that very moment I heard an angelic hoarse croak like no other. Looking up I saw the shape I had been dreaming to see for years - it was a Snowy Owl! It flew past me only 20 feet from where my feet were positioned, headed North West. This bird was a fairly dark individual with many a black spot showing on the more obvious white feathers. Its flight style is best described as a mix between a large herons and a moth and not as fast as most owls.

The Snowy Owl is one North Americas largest and heaviest owls and is by far the most amazing being dressed in white from head to toe. This was my fifth and favorite owl species that I have laid delighted eyes upon. I have never seen an owl yet which hasn't left me shaking from the thrill of the encounter.

The bird was headed towards the dike. Just as it passed over the top of the dike another white form which had been on the far side of the dike flew up to meet it. For a brief moment they seemed to tackle in the air before separating and flying in opposite directions. Then when they where about 50 yards apart they both turned and landed side by side on the banks of the canal where they stayed. Now the light had faded almost entirely, making these pure white giants fade away into the gray water behind them. Taking photos was wildly unsuccessful and we had run out of time. So we all took one more squint at these amazing birds before turning our backs and walking away.

Here's our (late) Solstice Bird Count list seen at Plum Island:
Canada Goose 500+
Mute Swan 2
American Black Duck 175
Mallard 24
Northern Pintail 3
Greater Scaup 3
Lesser Scaup 3
Common Eider 50+
White-winged Scoter 10
Black Scoter 9
Bufflehead 11
Common Goldeneye 7
Hooded Merganser 3
Red-breasted Merganser 10
Wild Turkey 5
Red-throated Loon 1
Common Loon 5
Horned Grebe 5
Great Egret 1
Northern Harrier 3
Rough-legged hawk 2
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Ring-billed Gull 8
Herring Gull 35
Great Black-backed Gull 3
Snowy Owl 2 (!!!)
american Crow 13
American Robin 100+
Northern Mockingbird 1

Good job to anybody who ID'd the male Wood Duck in the last photo quiz.
Here's your next quiz.

This photo was taken at Chace Farm in Lincoln Rhode Island sometime in December. Hint: not all the rules of nature are set in stone. Aren't hints always cooler when you say them in a slightly riddle-ish way? Good Luck and Happy New Year!