Each winter I enjoy looking for all of the various species of sparrows that escape the cold in our area. I had seen some immature White-crowned Sparrows a few weeks ago at Brazoria NWR but no adults so one of my goals yesterday was to get some photos of a nice adult. I started my day at the Artist Boat land in Galveston since there had been lots of sparrow sightings there recently. No luck in Galveston, but I did enjoy meeting several Facebook friends in person as I made my way across the island. It is a treat to put faces to the names of people whose photos I enjoy seeing on a regular basis.

I eventually made it Brazoria NWR but still no luck with my sparrow so I decided to finish out my day at Brazos Bend SP, a place that I have always had good luck with sparrows. I spent a little time in the prairie areas of the park but it was really quiet so I decided to head home via Davis Estates Rd, another great sparrow location.

Davis Estates had a few neat birds but the light was getting really low and I started heading for home. Just as I was rolling my window up, I heard the distinct call of the White-crowned Sparrow which brought my car to an abrupt halt. After searching for a couple of minutes I spotted my singer. The light was really low but I couldn’t go home without at least trying for a photo. The sun had already set and I ended up taking a bunch of shots at 1/30s at ISO 3200 and f/4. Most of them were blurry as expected, but to my delight there were a couple that I think ended up being usable. It was a perfect way to end a nice day of birding.

www.texastargetbirds.com

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Zonotrichia leucophrys