ML358579011

觀察細節

**Mega. When I left this morning, Baird's Sparrow was in the back of my mind as a target species given the unseasonably moist along the Front Range, with still extensive green and lots of flowers blooming. Given that they were found in Larimer county, I thought it was perhaps slightly plausible one could show up here. Of course, I thought there was in actuality no chance that one would be here. I was texting a friend about the Cassin's Sparrow from the previous list and not paying as much attention as I should, when I heard a soft tinkling sound which sounded like a Baird's Sparrow. I quickly paid attention and heard the bird singing three more songs, each distinctive and unmistakably that of a Baird's Sparrow (a song I know well from leading tours in North Dakota). The location was almost exactly 4.0km from the start of trailhead along the main trail. The bird was quite far away, and I thought it was singing from the west, but wasn't sure. I waited for about ten minutes, and didn't hear the bird again. Stressed to have not recorded it, and to have not seen it, I played three songs from my phone. After 4 minutes a single bird flew in and gave calls, which I recorded with my iPhone in the Merlin app. I then realized there were in fact two birds calling, both of which can be heard on the recording. The way the birds called back and forth, seemed consistent with how I have heard pairs of Baird's call in the core of their range, so I presume that this was indeed a pair. The second bird soon flew in and landed beside the bird I presumed was the male, since it flew in from the direction I thought it was most likely singing. The two sat beside each other in good view and seemed to act like a pair. I obtained a couple very poor but diagnostic photos through my 12x Swarovski with my iPhone. Given the sensitive nature of this species, I am asking people to please refrain from playing recordings. I understand that I played vocalizations initially, and my only defense is that was to obtain evidence for a first county record, and first Denver Metro breeding season record.