Clay-colored Sparrow – Huntingdon County, PA

Dave and Trudy Kyler, two of Huntingdon County’s top birders, found a beautiful adult Clay-colored Sparrow yesterday morning at Old Crow Wetlands. My friends and I were busy with finals and other things, but we finally had some time to run down to Old Crow and search for it earlier today. After a few minutes of searching, Ian Gardner spotted the sparrow in some short trees near the parking area. The bird jumped from tree to tree, foraging non-stop and occasionally singing its buzzing song. Photographing the bird was difficult because of the terrible natural lighting and because the bird was always above us, offering only odd angles for me to try to compose a decent shot. Luckily, the sparrow was rather tame and foraged near us for a few minutes so I was able to get the three shots below that I am pretty happy with – not to mention this is the first time I have ever been able to get photos of this species!

Clay-colored Sparrow at Old Crow Wetlands (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

Clay-colored Sparrow at Old Crow Wetlands (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

Clay-colored Sparrow at Old Crow Wetlands (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)