Jo's Morning Walk: Spotting the Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow

Tuesday Nov. 25, 2014

I have been going to the peninsula trail at Rios for the last month trying to find the Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow. Today was another super high tide day and I was going to give it another try...

It was just about at maximum height of high tide and I was on the lookout for the Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow at Rios side of the lagoon. Getting to the point of the peninsula trail, I find that there are already a few photographers waiting for the Nelson's sparrow to make an appearance. I stayed back as there really isn't enough room at the point to hold more than two photographers at a time. As I watched from about 20ft away, one of the photographers had gotten enough photos and was leaving. Looking towards the area, the lone photographer waved me over and offered me a spot and advised me as to the exact spot where the sparrow was last spotted. Within minutes, the Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow made his appearance! He was so perfectly camouflaged against the background that he was easy to miss.

Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow... Ammodramus nelsoni. They measure 5 inches long with a wing span of 7 inches.

The only time these sparrows are spotted is at very high tide.

He surfaced just briefly for a quick shot.

That was all for today. The Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow soon flew out to the reeds after this shot.

Disappointed that I only got a few shots of the Nelson's, I decided to go check out the Pole trail to see if any other new arrivals were around. Our local Great Blue Heron was out hunting at one of his favorite spots.

As I watched a few of the ducks dabbling in the tide channel, I was visited by the Northern Harrier -- it was a fast flyby.

I barely had a chance to bring my camera up for a shot.

Finding nothing else around, I decided to head home. I did manage to get a quick shot of our female American Kestrel looking for prey by the pumphouse. I just saw her catch a dragonfly while I was watching for the Nelson's sparrow. She is a fantastic hunter.

Just as I passed the earth dam, I spot a Sora in the muck and marsh grass.

One of our smaller Rails, Sora... Porzana carolina measures 8.75 inches long with a wing span of 14 inches. They are one of the Northern Harrier's favorite prey. The Harrier is always on the hunt for these little Rails especially at high tide when they are more exposed.