ML128723391

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Located in canyon below wide pullout on curve about 1/4 mile below Pinery Canyon campground. Heard Steller's Jays scolding something so walked down slope a bit below this pullout. The jays moved on but I heard distant paired call notes coming from the bottom of the canyon which I tentatively identified as a Pacific Wren. As I moved toward the bottom of the canyon, the call notes stopped but I noted some logs in the canyon which seemed like a good spot for this species (it was just above where another wash from the south joins the main wash). I tried pishing but got no response so I decided to sit and wait to see if the bird began to move. In a few minutes, the bird began moving around and I noted that it indeed was a very small dark brown wren with a small upturned tail and light eye stripe. I thought the bird was uniformly dark brown including the throat supporting my initial identification. I then attempted to photograph the bird although results were mediocre at best as it was getting dark in the canyon. I am quite familiar with this species as until recently I lived in Juneau, Alaska where this bird is a common breeder, and am also familiar with Winter Wren, whose call notes are more suggestive of a Song Sparrow to me. It would have been nice to have heard the bird up close as well as see the bird in better light but I believe my ID to be correct.

Technical information

Model

DMC-FZ18

ISO

400

Focal length

82.8 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/4.2

Shutter speed

1/40 sec

Dimensions

1164 pixels x 857 pixels

Original file size

112.18 KB