Backyard Swamp Sparrow, Ken Caryl, Jefferson Co Jan 22

[David Suddjian]

This afternoon a Swamp Sparrow made an unexpected visit to my front yard feeding station, out of its usual habitat. It remained in one spot where there was seed on the ground for a few minutes - long enough for me to get out my scope and take a few pictures with my iPhone. Then it flushed and was not to be seen.

A while later I spotted it in an isolated deciduous shrub near a parked car. It remained in that shrub for at least 20 minutes, lurking in the dense thicket of stems. As I looked around, it was probably the item of vegetation in the yard that is closest in density and verticality to the usual marsh or weed patch. Mostly it just sat still in there, not moving much at all for extended periods, but for the turning of its head. The bird is in the shrub in the photo below - you just can't see it. Later it slipped away, unnoticed as they do.

Two more photos are on this checklist, including an interesting face-on view and one (though blurry) of the bird taking flight as it flushed.

https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S51941626

David Suddjian

Ken Caryl Valley 

Littleton, CO

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