ML77811281

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

This bird was staying in low vegetation (Frankenia, Salicornia, Schoenoplectus/Scirpus, grasses) 40-50 meters west of the parking lot, and on several occasions perched up in coyote brush for an extended time. I saw the bird quite well over a total period lasting several minutes, during the hour or so I was present, although during most of this time I was looking at the bird from in front. As this was a first county record, plenty of people came out, despite horrible air quality from the Thomas Fire, and despite the fact that a lot of people in our community were under mandatory evacuations. This was a medium-sized sparrow, with a medium-length tail and rounded crown. The bird had a gray patch on the auriculars but was more of a pumpkin color on the upper part of the face. It also had a dark mark behind the eye and a very narrow whitish area (bare skin, I think) around the eye, which wasn’t visible at all angles. It had a narrow white crown stripe bordered with blackish lateral stripes. From behind the white central crown stripe was not very evident. The nape was medium gray with fine, narrow reddish streaks. The throat was a muted pumpkin color that extended down through the breast and sides. The belly was whitish. The bird had very distinct black streaks on the sides and very narrow, less distinct dark streaks in a narrow band across the upper breast, just below the throat. I did not get great looks at the upper parts. I can say that it appeared to have tawny upper parts with dark marks on the feathers. I believe the tail was a similar color to the mantle. I didn’t really study the pattern of the feather on the wings. In regard to bare parts, the bill was conical, medium-sized for a sparrow, and somewhat flesh-colored. The legs were pinkish. The eye was dark.

Technical information

Model

DMC-FZ70

ISO

250

Focal length

160.3 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

0.01 sec

Dimensions

2525 pixels x 2029 pixels

Original file size

1.15 MB