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Field Sparrows Spizella pusilla, Keene, NH, December 18th, 2004. |
| Two Field Sparrows were discovered by the
Ashuelot River, just off Marcel Court, south of Keene, during the
Christmas Bird Count on December 18th, 2004. This species is apparently
quite scarce in NH in mid-winter with only three individuals recorded
state wide on the previous year’s CBC. This was my second winter
record of Field Sparrow in Keene recalling an individual found on
December 28th 2003, near the ‘redpoll hotspot’ on the Keene bike path
near Water Street. A couple of images of that bird are included here as well.
It’s worth noting that the bird in 2003 was rather grayer than the
buffy birds of this year. |
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| Fig.1. Field Sparrow with rather buffy upperbreast. Note the curious white blaze at the center of the forehead. |
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| Fig. 2. The same individual from the Keene, CBC, 2004. Both birds were rather bright, buffy individuals. |
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| Fig. 3. A grayer individual from the Keene bike path in December 2003. |
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| Fig. 4. The same individual from the Keene bike path, skulking in the grasses underneath feeding redpolls. |