Date: 9/30/26 1:02 pm From: Scott Ramos via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: [Tweeters] UNBA Clay-colored Sparrow
Finding a window of time to finally chase the frequently seen Clay-colored Sparrow, I made my way to The Fill, heading toward the UW Farm where the bird has mostly been reported. Not really knowing where 'the beans' were, I figured it would be obvious. Approaching the planted area, I could see from a distance a few sparrows perched on the support poles. Two were clearly Savannahs but the third had a different appearance.
Before I could get any closer a Merlin came zooming through the area from behind me, scattering birds in every direction. A crow gave chase but couldn't keep up, so went its own way. At least 30-40 small passerines could be seen frantically trying to avoid the hunter. But the Merlin passed through the entire garden area, then turned north. And the small birds quickly resumed feeding, mostly disappearing into the vegetation.
When I got close enough to the tall plants I could see 'the beans', but no birds were visible at that point. Another birder, Douglas M, had just arrived and came over and we talked about what we had seen. And then the Clay-colored appeared on the ground right in front of us! It spent most of the time feeding on the grasses mixed in with the nasturtiums edging a row of tomato plants just south of the beans. We got great looks for several minutes.
Doug had to leave after a satisfying show, while I stayed to see if the sparrow would pop up again. After only a minute or two, an immature Cooper's Hawk flew in and perched on the netting above the next row of vegetables, looking intently toward the beans and to the ground; the sparrow flew quickly deeper into the tomato patch, not to be seen again.
The Coop seemed unperturbed by my presence. I wanted to see if it was banded so slowly moved closer to where I could see the legs--no band. Again, it was unconcerned that I was now about 10 feet away. It then jumped to the ground and an unidentified sparrow flew into the beans. The hawk continued looking around and eventually started walking in my direction, approaching close enough that I could no longer focus my telephoto lens! It turned to look in the other direction and eventually gave up and flew off.
So, I guess I was lucky to have seen the sparrow, given the circumstances. And the sparrow can be considered lucky as well to have averted potential attacks from two different raptors in the space of 15 minutes. Hope its luck continues.
