[Tweeters] Old Sam Peabody

[Dennis Paulson]

The same thing happened in our yard in the Maple Leaf neighborhood of Seattle. Last winter we had two White-throated Sparrows through the winter, from 3 November-12 April. This winter the first one we saw was on 5 November, then a second one a few days later, then on 27 November, Scott Ramos and I saw THREE birds at the same time. Subsequently I haven’t seen more than two at a time, but they were both still here two days ago, a very bright white-striped and a much duller tan-striped that didn’t look much brighter than an immature. And at least one of them just started to sing.

Prior to last winter, I had seen a total of 5 White-throated Sparrows in our yard in 30 years, all in migration: 7-8 Oct 1995, 6 May 2002, 22-24 Sep 2010, and 5-8 Oct 2020. Of course I realize that two of the birds this winter could well be the same birds that stayed here last winter, but in any case, there has been a real change in the status of this species right here.

Are they wintering farther north because of climate change, as Steve Hampton has documented (notwithstanding that it snowed a bit this morning!)? Or are a larger number of them coming down the Pacific coast than used to be the case?

Dennis Paulson
Seattle


> On Apr 3, 2023, at 5:09 PM, J. Acker <Owler at sounddsl.com> wrote:

> 

> Hey Tweeters,

>  

> Its that time of year again.  I am hearing “Old Sam Peabody”  and I know that means that the White-throated sparrows that have been in the neighborhood for the winter will be leaving very soon.  I will miss them.  The first arrived at the feeder in early October and the second in mid-January.  Both were tan morphs at the time, but have since seemingly molted.  One still looks like a tan morph, though the white is brighter but it looks rather ragged, as if it just took a bath.  The second now has bright yellow lores and bright white eye stripes, though the median crown still appears tan. Safe travels!

>  

> J. Acker

> Owler at sounddsl.com <mailto:Owler at sounddsl.com>

> Bainbridge Island, WA

> Sent from Mail <https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for Windows

>  

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