Swamp Sparrow & correction

I have revised my previous post (Tuesday). Among my sparrow photos from Cape May were several POOR photographs of a sparrow. I cropped and sharpened the photos, eventually IDed the sparrow as Henslow's Sparrow. This may be one of those cases of WANNABE ID. An email from Blake Mathys (who showed me the Common Ground Dove - see previous post) suggests that my photo is a Swamp Sparrow. The more I look at the photo, the more I think I have to agree. (Darn!)

My only previous encounter with Henslow's Sparrow was a distant one in Massachusetts last year. That meant relying on field guides. Peterson tipped it for me: “The striped olive-colored head in conjunction with reddish wings identifies it.” I seized the reddish wings and tried to make the head olive-colored.

The birds were moving fast through the edges of the tower field at Higbee Beach WMA, and I chose camera over binoculars, aim and click rather than look and ID.

Last week’s Cape May fall out brought exceptional numbers of Swamp Sparrows. Below, I repost (first photo) my probable Swamp Sparrow not Henslow’s Sparrow (see photo on CMBO View from the Field), plus several additional Swamp Sparrows.

Good birding!