Date: 10/11/24 11:09 am
From: Doug & Nina Harr <dnharr...>
Subject: [ia-bird] Spectacular sparrow day in N. Boone Co.
After spending the past 2 days at the Iowa Nature Summit in Des Moines,
this morning I went into northern Boone Co. just to do some road birding
before running errands. When nearing the Boone/Hamilton Co. line 2 mi. SW
of McHugh wetlands (private), then driving east to Bjorkboda Marsh, I
managed to ID at least 9 species of sparrows in about 15 minutes. There
were so many that it's likely there were others I missed.

Large numbers were everywhere along the roadsides and at the edge of the
marshes. Best was one location right at the corner of R Ave. and 100th St.
where I saw from my car window all the following in one bunch of shrubs and
three-square bullrushes: *2 Swamp Sparrows, 5 Harris's Sparrows, 2
White-crowned Sparrows, 4 White-throated Sparrows, 8 Savannah Sparrows, 1
Fox Sparrow, & 1 Dark-eyed Junco. *Then, heading on to Bjorkboda Marsh I
saw both a *Vesper Sparrow* and a* Clay-colored Sparrow. *Savannah
Sparrows (photo of 1 attached here) were absolutely everywhere in
northern Boone Co, where I estimate having seen nearly 150 along just a
6-mile stretch of roads. So it was a *spectacular* sparrow morning!

A couple of other nice things to see just into Hamilton Co., west of the
Masterson Wildlife Area, were 6* Sandhill Cranes* and a* Northern Harrier*.

Doug Harr
Ogden

--
Post by sending an email to <ia-bird...>
To search for an unfamiliar location, go to https://iowabirds.org/Places/FindLocation.aspx
This list is sponsored by the Iowa Ornithologists' Union - https://iowabirds.org/ - with membership open to all people interested in the birds of Iowa. Join today at https://iowabirds.org/IOU/Membership.aspx.
IOU Code of Birding Ethics - https://iowabirds.org/Pages.aspx?pg=6
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "IA-BIRD" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ia-bird+<unsubscribe...>
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ia-bird/CAO6%3DGQcH%3DGQZappfLJCypDOwzP4VCUGUgbQ-AB%<2BFh8zRFLDFZQ...>

 
Join us on Facebook!