Possible Baird's Sparrow - Larimer

[David Wade]

Greetings birders,

At Douglass Lake/Reservoir today I flushed a sparrow that flew 20 ft further down the trail where it basically crashed into the ground then sprang upright and gave me a quick unobscured look before running into the tall grass. I'm positive it was an Ammodramus sparrow based on its shape and gizz however, I'm not certain it wasn't an early Grasshopper Sparrow. It's plumage seemed rather pale and old not fresh and new. The dark markings that make up the border of the cheek patch, or auricles, created a  more Baird's-like square-ish shape rather than the "two spot" look of GRSP. The head had a slight yellow-y orange cast to it rather than the more concentrated yellow towards the eyes of a Grasshopper.  I only had a brief second or so of viewing and am very unsure about which species I actually saw. After looking at online photos and three guide books, the impression I have is it was more Baird's than Grasshopper. I will probably never know for sure but It's going into ebird as Ammodramus Sp and into my personal list as "unconfirmed - most likely Bairds".

 I saw it along the ditch road on the east side of the lake. If you count the power poles starting from the east side parking lot, it was about the 5th or 6th pole depending on which pole you start counting by.

David Wade

Ft Collins, CO