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RE: Hooper Lane birds



Pam and I made the trip up to Hendersonville this afternoon. We also dipped
on the longspurs, but had great looks at the Short-eared Owl (same location
as has been reported, around 3:00 PM) and found a sizable flock of pipits
near the north end of Hooper Lane. Other birds of some interest at the sod
farm were a dozen or so Meadowlarks, three Great Blue Herons and a
ground-perching Kestrel. We also picked up a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers
near the intersection of Butler Bridge and Jeffries (sp?) Roads.

The most intriguing find of the day was a very unusual sparrow. It was
associating with Song Sparrows, and its behavior was similar. Its dorsal
markings and the streaking on the abdomen were also consistent with Song
Sparrow, right down to the central breast spot. The face and throat,
however, were pure white, except for a thin, dark line through the eye. My
assumption is that we were looking at a variant Song Sparrow. Any other
thoughts will be welcome.

Doug DeNeve
Winston-Salem, NC
deneved@ols.net