Esoteric birding, Prince Lake No. 2, Boulder County, Oct. 23

[Ted Floyd]

Hello, birders. I tarried in the vicinity of Prince Lake No. 2, eastern Boulder County, early this sunny Sunday morning, Oct. 23. I found nothing that will cause a stampede of birders to visit the site, but the white-crowned sparrows and collared-doves (genus Streptopelia) were interesting.

Here's the distinctive flight call of one of the white-crowned sparrows:

Note that the flight call is double-banded, rising from 7 kHz to 9 kHz, duration about 85 mS. Classic for white-crowned sparrow.

Meanwhile, at least one of the many Streptopelia doves was an African collared-dove. In the pic below, note how the primaries contrast only weakly with the upper-parts. On Eurasian collared-dove, though, the primaries are typically much darker than the upper-parts.

The complete eBird checklist, with additional white-crowned sparrow audio and more African Collared-Dove photos, can be viewed (and heard) here:

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S32174916

Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder County