White-crowned Sparrow - St Joe Peninsula

[Surfbirds Bloggers]

Lead an all day trip to Gulf County on Saturday and spent most of our time at St. Joe Peninsula State Park watching a small but entertaining passage of hawks. We counted over 50 individuals of 10 species, the highlight being 9 Broad-winged Hawks and a couple of Peregrines.Prior to our hawk vigil we checked the bushes for songbird migrants, which were scarce! Lots of Gray Catbirds were squabbling over berry rights, a late Yellow-throated Vireo presented itself along with an Eastern Phoebe, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Flicker and Swamp Sparrow. Overhead a good number of hirundines headed north along the peninsula, namely Barn, Bank and Cliff Swallows.The highlight of the day was a very confiding adult White-crowned Sparrow which foraged near our picnic table for a while. This was the first adult I had seen in Florida, as I usually see first year birds here during fall and winter. An early date for this species too. Maybe a sign of what to expect, sparrow wise, this winter. White-crowned Sparrow


More... (http://www.surfbirds.com/blog/limeybirder/5302/)