Monday, December 22, 2014

The Elusive Snowy Owl and the Unexpected Grasshopper Sparrow

Grasshopper Sparrow
 On Saturday night I saw an email from the Boston Birds group about a sighting of a Snowy Owl at Millennium Park! So I thought it would be fun to try and find it Sunday morning and was able to convince the little one, who kept saying "maybe snowy owl", to join me for the walk. While we were unsuccessful at finding a Snowy Owl (the park is likely too heavily used for a Snowy to stick around. We did however run into Matt Garvey who mentioned that he had just spotted a Grasshopper Sparrow in with the flock of American Tree Sparrows in front of us. We looked and couldn't find it, but on our way back to the car we passed the same spot and this time were able to find the Grasshopper Sparrow!

I was pretty excited to add this to my Massachusetts list! I've heard lots of them out in the midwest before and even caught a very short glimpse of one, but here at Millennium Park this bird was feeding out in the open and giving ample opportunity to observe it. I even snapped a picture, but due to the low light and wiggle child on my back, non of the images came out very crisp, but at least its a record shot.

I hope you all have a great holiday season and a happy New Years!