Lately I've been having more brain fog or more adhd or something. It's like I can't keep two thoughts in my head at the same time. Maybe it's depression, or it might be the new meds I'm on. Yesterday I had plans to get up early and go to my first birding group (I've always gone solo or with a friend) and then visit with one of my dearest friends whom I haven't seen in months. I ended up staying up super late, sleeping in and missing both. I feel really sad about it, I was looking forward to it a lot. But it's like even that sadness I can't keep in my head at the same time as anything else.
I went birding yesterday anyway, around lunchtime, and forgot to eat first, forgot to bring my cell phone, didn't bring enough water. And that was after going back into the house twice to grab things I'd forgotten. I've made an appointment about it.
Onto the birds:
The tan-striped white-throated sparrow. Yes, that's what it's called.
Before I left to bird today I saw a white-throated sparrow on my neighbor's lawn out with a blush of Robins and a Northern Flicker that were digging up worms and bugs. I think they were just happy we didn't have a thick frost that morning like we've been having. White-Throated Sparrows aren't super common around here this time of year. I was surprised to see it, as it wasn't even a variety of sparrow that I'd been tracking as something that might be likely to show up. Song Sparrows, and even Golden Crowned and White Crowned Sparrows are all more or less expected to be in the region at this time. We don't get as many House Sparrows as a lot of places do, but I've seen a couple of those too. I immediately thought "I wonder if this is officially a Rare Bird or just an unlikely one."
Rare Birds are a big deal. It's a whole production. If I were to see a rare bird and post that on eBird, I'd have people out here within hours trying to verify it. I'd have people skeptical if I even saw it. If those experts confirmed it, I'd have people coming in from all around the region, and if it's rare enough, all around the state, all around the country, even, to see the bird. So whenever I see something that's surprising to me, a big part of me is always kind of hoping it's ~not~ a rare bird. There's currently a Harris's Sparrow up at Point No Point who has birders flocking to the spot to verify it (it was verified).
The Harris's Sparrow: A Pretty Cool Sparrow
So after seeing the sparrow I went on eBird to enter my log and was surprised and relieved to see that maybe 25 people across the region have seen White-throated Sparrows since November, though I'm only the third in my county. Also there's a woman out on an island nearby who seems to have one living in her yard (she's reported it three times now). So my rare bird was not so rare after all. I am very glad of that.
I think some day I would like to see a rare bird, but only when I'm ready for it and have extremely high confidence in my identification. I'd also like to have a camera that can take bird photos (with most phones it's too hard to get close enough to see anything). I bought one last paycheck and it's on its way here now. Who knows, I could see a Harris's Sparrow next week and be the belle of the ball! Maybe even meet that birding group.