Golden-crowned Sparrow - 03 Nov 2010

First off, props to Allen Chartier for finding this bird at Belle Isle's Nature Zoo feeders.  How he found this drab little brown bird among brown sparrows, brown ground, through brown glass, I will never know...

I arrived at the Nature Zoo at ~3:15 pm and was about to walk into the building when a Red-tailed Hawk (the same bird that had been harassing the feeders all day) took off across the parking lot and toward a squirrel along the shoreline.  As I watched it fly away Rob Epstein pulled alongside.  He and I went into the nature center where we saw Alan Ryff, John Lowry and Bryn Martin.

After a few minutes the Golden-crowned Sparrow returned and actively fed on the other side of the one-way glass.  With overcast skies, and dark glass, photographing this little guy was going to be tough. I put the camera's ISO on 1600, and opened the Sigma 400 mm wide open (f/5.6) and exposure compensation to -1.0.  Still, photos were exposing at 1/20 to 1/30 sec., so of the 400 photos or so I took, only 3 or 4 came out good enough to keep.  On top of that, I had left the white balance set to fluorescent light, so all my images came out with a purple-magenta cast.  So on top of all the obstacles with trying to photograph the sparrow, I'm happy w/ the captures.

The bird would feed for several minutes then fly away.  After a few minutes it would return and feed among the several White-throated Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, House Finches and House Sparrows.  By 3:30 pm I had emptied the card, and the bird had left, so I took off for home.

Belle Isle Park, Detroit US-MI (42.3458,-82.9720), Wayne, Michigan, US
Nov 3, 2010 3:15 PM - 3:55 PM
Protocol: Stationary
Checklist Comments:     props to Allen Chartier for finding this bird at Belle Isle's Nature Zoo feeders.  How he found this drab little brown bird among brown sparrows, brown ground, through brown glass, I will never know
6 species

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)  1
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)  6
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)  4
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)  2
Golden-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla)  1     I arrived at the Nature Zoo at ~3:15 pm and was about to walk into the building when a Red-tailed Hawk (the same bird that had been harassing the feeders all day) took off across the parking lot and toward a squirrel along the shoreline.  As I watched it fly away Rob Epstein pulled alongside.  He and I went into the nature center where we saw Alan Ryff, John Lowry and Bryn Martin.After a few minutes the Golden-crowned Sparrow returned and actively fed on the other side of the one-way glass.  With overcast skies, and dark glass, photographing this little guy was going to be tough
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)  2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S42375297

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