Hello, I would like to provide some more detail on the golden-crowned sparrow which came to my backyard this past week in Duluth. I first saw a sparrow (probably THE sparrow, but I am not certain) in a snowstorm on Sunday, December 14. I only had a brief and obstructed view of the bird at the time: I was able to make out its bi-colored beak and clear breast, and thought that it could be an overwintering am. tree sparrow. I was not at home during daylight hours during the week so I did not see the bird again until mid-morning on Saturday, December 20. It was, at this time, that I finally had a good look at the bird and realized that it might be something out of the ordinary. I photographed the sparrow that morning, and sent an image to two individuals who post to this list, asking if I might indeed have a golden-crowned sparrow. Shortly afterwards, I called Kim Eckert for his advice. As you might have read in his earlier post, Kim contacted several members of your group, the sighting was confirmed later in the day by two of them, and Kim was kind enough to post the details to this list that evening. The bird spent much of Saturday eating safflower from a feeder on our back porch although it occasionally spent time on the ground below a feeder (sunflower) in the middle of the yard. I saw the bird again briefly on Sunday morning (Dec. 21) between 7:30 and 8:00 a.m. when it made several attempts to eat from the porch feeder. Unfortunately, winds were very strong during the morning, and the bird appeared to be swept away any time that it tried to take seed from the tray of the feeder. I am continuing to keep an eye out, and will be sure to post again if the bird returns. I enjoyed meeting several of you over the weekend, and am sorry that so few had the opportunity of seeing this great bird. Best wishes, Brad Snelling _________________________________________________________________ It’s the same Hotmail®. If by “same” you mean up to 70% faster. http://windowslive.com/online/hotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_hotmail_acq_broad1_122008 ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
