[va-bird] Henlow's and Lincoln's Sparrows - Buchanan County

Hi All,
This morning I went to the Mountain Top Golf Course here on Compton Mt to do 
the weekly check of the bluebird boxes. While walking to the third box I saw a 
sparrow fly up from the ground to land on a Multiflora Rose bush. It was facing 
me and when I put the binoculars on it I could see that it was a Henslow's 
Sparrow. The yellow on the face first caught my eye, but Savannah's sometimes 
have yellowish green on their supercillium (eyebrow). This bird's head was too 
flat on top and the bill was too thick to be a Savannah. Also the whole bird's 
head had some yellowish color. I could also see the white throat and the 
streaking on the chest. It was an Ammodramus and I eliminated Grasshopper 
Sparrow and Le Conte's. I stood there and watched the bird for a least a minute 
or more before it flew to the ground some distance away. As I continued forward 
it flew away.
As I reached the next box I stepped into some foot tall grass and a small 
sparrow flew from under my feet and landed about 20 feet away on a blackberry 
cane. It was a Lincoln's Sparrow. It sat there with raised darker feathers on 
the top of its head. The gray face with the darker line through the eye, the 
buffy breast and flanks with thin dark striping were all visible.

Both of these sparrows are rare for Compton Mt. In fact that is the first 
Henlow's I have ever seen here on the mountain. This is only the 5th recorded 
sighting of the species in the county that I'm aware of.

By the way, in regard to the bluebird trail here I found 57 bluebird eggs in 
nests that had only about 12 a week ago.

Roger Mayhorn
Compton Mt
Buchanan County
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