Friends,
I spent this morning, Saturday, 4 August, birding
around Lake Albemarle in western Albemarle County. It
was a fairly birdy morning overall, and also yielded
one major surprise at 08:55 am: a LARK SPARROW.
I had been slowly driving in my Jeep, windows down,
listening and watching, when I saw a couple birds
perched on a fence just ahead. I stopped and looked at
them with my binoculars. One was an Eastern Phoebe,
and the other was a sparrow with a striking face
pattern that I immediately recognized: LARK SPARROW.
The LARK SPARROW was initially about 30 yards distant.
After studying the bird in binoculars, I balanced my
scope on the Jeep steering wheel (I didn't want to
chance spooking the bird if I got out of the car). I
almost had the sparrow focused in the scope when it
jumped up from the fence. It flew straight toward the
Jeep, then veered to my left, landing on the fence
again at a distance of only 10 yards. The sparrow
permitted me another 20 seconds of binocular study
before it flew again to perch on a nearby utility
wire. This time the bird had flown far enough that I
decided to exit my Jeep and set up my scope. I had it
for about 30 seconds in my scope before the sparrow
decided to move again, flying strongly to the east and
disappearing from view. I searched for another 40
minutes, but could not re-locate it.
Lake Albemarle is west of Charlottesville, and south
of Garth Road (Rte 614). To reach the area where I saw
the LARK SPARROW, take Lake Albemarle Rd (Rte 675) 2.1
miles south from Garth Rd to the "T" at the lake. Turn
left onto the gravel road that winds around the east
side of the lake and thru the woods for approx 0.5
mile. You emerge from the woods at a point where the
road turns sharply right (you enter a driveway if you
continue straight). Fields now border the left side of
the road; the edge of the woods is on the right. The
fields are enclosed by a black wooden fence. The fence
immediately adjacent to the road, between the driveway
entrance and the stable, is where I discovered the
Lark Sparrow.
I live nearby and will check for the bird again later
this afternoon.
Mark Adams
Charlottesville
