Nelson’s Sparrow – Sinnemahoning State Park, PA

[dc]T[/dc]his evening, Mark Johnson found this gorgeous Nelson’s Sparrow at Sinnemahoning State Park in Cameron County. The bird was in a large, wet patch of Goldenrod on the shore of the reservoir. Good luck if anyone tries to refind this bird. Nelson’s Sparrow is a species I have spent quite a bit of time looking for in PA with no luck (yet).

Nelson’s Sparrows breed mainly in the upper Midwest and prairie potholes region and New England coast, and then winter along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is only during migration that they pass through Pennsylvania, generally mid-September to early November.