Date: 11/22/25 2:02 am From: Joseph Neal <0000078cbd583d7c-dmarc-request...> Subject: THEIR WHITE CROWNS STILL WHITE AFTER A LITTLE FLUTTERING AND SUN-BATHING
Birds at their morning bath yesterday morning (November 21) were a little red where before they were a little white. Out in the red bath this morning were WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS, SAVANNAH SPARROWS, HARRIS’S SPARROWS, LINCOLN’S SPARROWS, Also NORTHERN CARDINALS, of course, not more red.
Red water because: after our 2-inch rain -- and after I made another birding expedition to former Beatie Prairie in western Benton County -- I was mainly along Wet Prairie Road north of Maysville (yes, almost Missouri and yes, almost Oklahoma). Wet Prairie Road after a good wetting is decidedly red.
Red water standing in ruts, pot holes and roadside ditches. The red is derived from iron oxides (rust) associated with the geological times called Mississippian, roughly 350 to 323 million years ago, though I doubt any of this made a difference to all those White-crowned Sparrows at their bath.
They were singing away – SEEEEE DE DE DE. Maybe all the available red water made it more attractive! After a little fluttering and sun-bathing their white crowns were still white.
Here’s what I submitted to Cornell Lab’s eBird, including photos of the Mississippian age bathing party, a Merlin, and more: https://ebird.org/checklist/S285539215
