ML117005471

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

***Mega. Continuing individual first located this morning by Neil Blok. Thanks to Peter Trull for getting the word out. There are seven records accepted by the MARC. While walking the fire road, eventually we found the Lark Bunting foraging in the middle of the road. The bird was incredibly obliging, hopping along the edge of the sand to within 15 ft of an observer. It was foraging solitarily on seeds. There were no other sparrows around when we saw it. The exact location is here- https://goo.gl/maps/vR2hCc9YEQ92 This was a chunky sparrow with a large body and short tail. The outer tail feathers were tipped white, and the large white patch was obvious on both a folded and spread wing, created by the white greater and median coverts. The bill was large and very triangular, and slaty, almost bluish in color. The auriculars were brown and bordered completely by a darker postocular eyeline, a postauricular stripe, and a subauricular stripe. The malar was white and bordered by dark brown on both sides. The bird had a mostly white superciliium with some fine streaking, and the crown was brown suffused with reddish highlights. The eye was completely surrounded by pale orbital feathering, and the lores were big and white. The throat was clean and white. The streaking down the sides was thick and heavy, and contrasted with the tan flanks. The streaking on the upper breast was finer, and the belly was white. At times, the bird raised its crown feathers, creating a sharply angled crest. The bird was missing some feathers just anterior to the right leg. However, it hopped seemingly healthily, and behaved normal otherwise.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Lens

EF400mm f/5.6L USM

ISO

320

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/2000 sec

Dimensions

2414 pixels x 1609 pixels

Original file size

3.12 MB