Fri-D: Too Much Tail

At first light one day this week I was skulking about the Beanery looking for - and not finding - the Sedge Wren that had been reported there, when I spied this bird perched atop a weed, with the usual myriad of Savannah Sparrows around it. I couldn't see the face, but this bird was different, slightly bigger than the Savannahs, and look at the tail - it's long for a sparrow's, certainly longer than a Savannah Sparrow's tail, and is that white on the edge? It is, and it is a Vesper Sparrow.

One of these days, like maybe right now, I should write a blog on what it's like to look for and not find a sought-after species. Like a Sedge Wren. It's unpleasant, is what - self doubt fills you as you patrol up one side of a field and down the other. And you talk to yourself. Am I even in the right field? It probably left last night. This is why you don't like to chase birds, remember? That chip could have been it. . . .no, it's just a Palm Warbler. . .maybe I should play a tape. . .don't you dare even think like that.

And then you find a different good bird, like a Vesper Sparrow, and you regroup, and all is right with the world, and you decide to end this chasing nonsense and go look at the ocean for a while. . .

[Reward for looking at the ocean. . . breeding plumage Brown Pelican, Avalon Seawatch, NJ on Wednesday.]