On Saturday the 10th, a birder named Istvan found a Black-throated Sparrow at Colony Farm Park, around the railroad tracks by the old pig barn. Black-throated Sparrows are big news around here, and they're kinda pretty, besides. So on the 11th I got up fairly early and headed over to Colony Farm.

I stopped on my way to pick up some decaf (I've cut out caffeine) and parked in the industrial area that's near the pig barn. It was 7:45, and it was crisp out, but not really cold.

I finished my coffee and then crossed through a warehouse parking lot to the rail tracks. I headed out along the trail next to the tracks, scanning for the sparrow as I went. I encountered a couple of others who had also come to look After 45 minutes or so without any luck, I wandered down the road that leads to the back entrance to the institute: the psychiatric prison that is almost surrounded by the park.

I knew that this short road was a good place to see Lazuli Buntings, and I was hoping to get photos of some. I hadn't seen any since last year.

It wasn't long before a female Lazuli popped up on a berry stalk.

The males are quite blue (hence their name), but the females are brown and buffy. I hadn't seen any females here the year before, so that was pretty neat.

Another pair of birders came towards me from the institute end of the road; either they were just being let out for the day, or they had walked through the brush around the place. I thought about asking them which, but my attention was diverted by some yellow hopping around on the road.

Between me and them, a pair of American Goldfinches had landed on the road. That's a male in front, and a female behind.

She watched us for a while, trying to decide if it was safe to proceed to the nest with us there. Eventually she did go on, but I couldn't see where the nest was.

The male Lazulis had started showing themselves, too, and singing. They tended to pick a prominent perch to do this from, which makes for nice photos.

I eventually parted with the other birders and continued down the road. Along the way, I got some more photos of male Lazulis. Here's a back view.

But the trail around the institute looked fairly narrow, and the Black-throated Sparrow had been reported near the train tracks, so at this point I doubled back down the road.

By the railroad tracks, I encountered a seeming convention of birders, and stopped to talk. Istvan, who had seen the bird the day before, was there, as was Roger, who had already been there five hours that morning looking. None had seen the bird that day, though.

I hung around for a while, but soon realized that although there was lots of talk about birding, there was no actual birding happening in the group. I figured I had very slim chances of finding the bird now, as it was nearing 10:30, and none of the really experienced folk had found it.. Maybe it had moved on, or maybe it was hiding in the acres of tall grass.

So I walked across the tracks back towards my car. As I was nearing the parking lot I had walked through, I saw a little black box attached to a thick black wire on the ground. It looked familiar...very familiar. I picked it up and it turned out to be the cable release for my camera; it must have fallen off when I was walking in. I reattached it, screwing it in securely, and thanked providence for just saving me a hundred bucks or so of replacement cost.

So I missed the bird, but kept all my camera parts. Not a bad morning.

When I got back to my condo, I noticed Cadbury stalking something in the courtyard.

Whatever it was, she lost interest in it once she saw me with my camera. She was feeling particularly beautiful that day, and wanted to model for me. And who am I to refuse such a lady?

She started with some serious expressions.

Cadbury had been quite the cooperative model, nicely posing for about a hundred shots. When we were done, she retired under her favorite bush, and I headed in to my place for a well-earned nap.

The story of the Black-throated Sparrow doesn't quite end here, though. Later in the week, on the 13th, someone spotted it at the main entrance to the institute. Unfortunately, work was really busy that week and I wasn't able to make it back out to the farm until Saturday the 17th.

At that late point, finding the bird was a long shot, but I had to try. I parked in about the same place, as I had decided to brave the thin trail that goes around the institute. I walked down the road to the back gate again, and things were mostly quiet. I then set out along the trail.

About 50 meters along, I found myself near a little clearing (in the berry brambles) full of tall grass with two or three bushes at its edge. The bushes seemed to be centers of activity, so I waded through some of the grass towards one to take some photos. Fairly low in the bush, but above the grass, there was a male Common Yellowthroat. He must've liked those leaves he was on, because he stayed on them for quite some time. Normally I expect warblers to fly off after a short while.

Anyhow, male Common Yellowthroats are such cute-looking little fellas. I love watchin' 'em.

Sadly, I got distracted by a song. I looked around for its source and found a Savannah Sparrow a little further up in the bush. I like Savannahs—they're a sharp-looking little sparrow. Not cute like the Yellowthroat, but dapper.

I decided to stick with the institute fence. This may not have been wise, as soon there were spots where I had to push through the thorny vines to make progress.

On the other hand, I wouldn't have seen this Spotted Towhee if I hadn't've gone that way.

Spotted Towhees are a type of sparrow, but they're pretty big birds compared to most other sparrows.

A few swallows had come by and stopped on the wire at the top of the fence. There were two kinds: Violet-green Swallows (note the distinctive white around the back of his eye),

They didn't stay for long, though.

I did eventually push my way through to the front of the institute, and I spent about fifteen minutes there looking for the Black-throated. Even if the bird had stayed in the area, it could be almost anywhere in the park, so concentrating my looking in any one particular area was more than a little hopeful. . I didn't ever find the bird, and never heard any more reports of it.

I ended my park trip by walking back the long but less-brambly way, down the main entrance road and then along the railroad tracks. It had turned into a warm morning, and I found nothing noteworthy on the rest of my walk.

Bereft of blackthroat,
Tom