The yard
Sparrows in the yard at last!
They flew in at ten to seven this morning. Clearly not House Sparrows, not that early. At least two stayed in view: White-throated Sparrows. It took roughly 20 minutes to get a good look at what turned out to be a Swamp Sparrow.
Sparrows weren’t the only arrivals; the yard was alive with birds from 6:50 to 7:30, including two yard firsts: Orange-crowned Warbler and Nashville Warbler. There were also two Indigo Buntings and one very brown House Wren.
The list:
- Rock Pigeon
- Mourning Dove
- European Starling
- House Wren (1)
- Nashville Warbler (1)
- Orange-crowned Warbler (1)
- Northern Cardinal (1 ♂ and 1 ♀)
- Indigo Bunting (2 ♀)
- White-throated Sparrow (2)
- Swamp Sparrow (1)
- House Sparrow
A couple of aggressive House Sparrows chased the female Cardinal, who had stopped in the poke stand in front of the garage.
Forest Park
Of course I had to walk the loop in to work. A partial list:
- Pied-billed Grebe (2)
- Mallard
- Mourning Dove
- Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (1–2; an imm. was in a bush eating berries)
- Eastern Phoebe (3+)
- Empid sp.
- Blue Jay
- Carolina Chickadee
- House Wren
- Marsh Wren
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet (2)
- Brown Thrasher
- Gray Catbird
- European Starling
- Nashville Warbler (2)
- Common Yellowthroat
- Song Sparrow (1 singing)
- Swamp Sparrow (6+)
- White-throated Sparrow
- House Finch (4+)
- American Goldfinch (6+)
There were also at least two Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warblers on the slope north of Jefferson in the afternoon.
Fall at last
I was so pleased to see the White-throated Sparrows in the yard this morning. They’ve been in the St. Louis area for at least a couple of weeks, but these were my firsts for the season. They are for me the sign that fall has arrived. Maybe tomorrow will bring a junco.
The forecast, a low of 50° tonight and a high of 67° tomorrow, is promising.