The Clay-colored Sparrow found by Cesar Castillo during the Queens County CBC yesterday might actually be a Brewer's Sparrow.
When I got home from seeing the bird this morning I posted an image on Facebook. This afternoon, a very short time ago, I got texts from Tom Johnson and Doug Gochfeld asking for more photos as they think it's a possible Brewer's Sparrow. I've since added more photos to the original image on Facebook. Photos can be seen on the New York Birders Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/NYBirders/ In the field the bird did seem a bit pale but I never would have thought to check if it was a Brewer's Sparrow or not. I chalked the paleness up to my rarely seeing Clay-colored Sparrows and not being as familiar with them as I could be. For those who want to go after this bird, the pin on this map is the location of the "Meditation Garden," a pine grove that serves as ground zero for the junco flock with which this sparrow, the Lark Sparrow, and the Pine Warblers travel, though the flock does range widely: https://www.google.com/maps/dir//40.743895,-73.840194/@40.7438245,-73.8398589,350m/data=!3m1!1e3 Easiest car access is from College Point Blvd and closest legal parking is under the Van Wyck, a bit north of where you enter from College Point Blvd. Hopefully, this is a Brewer's Sparrow. Good Birding, Corey Finger -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
