ML642614853

Observation details

Continuing at around the spillway area from yesterday (34.11437° N, 117.96768° W). This bird was mostly on the ground in and amongst tall grasses in the vicinity of many sparrows. I also saw it make four short flights. I first noticed it in flight where I saw its distinctive tail pattern- the outer tail feathers were white with some black near tips, and the inner tail feathers were all black, giving it a black triangle surrounded by white on the tail, with the apex of triangle closest to the body. This was substantially more white in the tail then on Vesper Sparrow(s) I’d been seeing. When I got on the bird on the ground, it sat still relatively close to me and I was able to see the overall warm brown color, a small dark conical bill, an indistinct dark marks at the rear of the auricular, a pale mallar stripe and a hint of a thin pale eye ring. The breast had faint indistinct streaking. There were two indistinct pale wing bars and a white spot on above the wingbars on the folded wing. The legs were dark. The bird gave single “kittle-kittle” calls on two of its short flights. Photos to come.