Finally, a Lincoln's

[Lincoln's Sparrow, Higbee Beach WMA, NJ on Saturday, October 19, 2013. As I wrote in a previous blog, "a bird of the Song Sparrow ilk but more delicate, with fine crisp streaks, especially on the breast, with a softly buffy breast and malar and a peaked crown and an eyering."]

Patience trumps stringing (see post below about stringing) and the proof is in the Lincoln's Sparrow that finally appeared and even posed for the camera at Higbee Beach WMA, NJ this morning. Actually, it didn't just appear, it was a gift from Virginia Rettig, who knew Beth and I needed Lincoln's for the year and texted us about the one she found in a corner of the "tower" field at Higbee. Virginia even hung onto the bird until we got there, not simple with the slightly skulky Lincoln's. We in turn handed the bird off to a couple other folks. Nice when things work out, finally.

10 species of sparrows eventually populated our Higbee list in only an hour of birding, not bad at all. That's 10 counting towhee and junco as sparrows, which they are, so it's still fair. It really was a fine morning of birding, with activity seemingly everywhere, stuff like Black-throated Green and Nashville Warblers still around, many Eastern Meadowlarks as flyovers at Cape May Point.  I'm taking a risk not being in Cape May right now, since a Swainson's Hawk was discovered on Nummy Island this morning and that bird and who knows what else are both likely to show in Cape May while I'm home doing yard work 10 miles north of the Point. Oh well, I'm enjoying all the Yellow-rumped Warblers and White-throated Sparrows in the yard.

[This hatch-year White-crowned Sparrow was one of the 10 sparrow species at Higbee this morning.]

[Nashville Warbler gets a good scratch in, also at Higbee Beach WMA.]