16 Chipping Sparrows
It was mostly overcast with temperatures in the low to mid-40s. I went first to the entrance of the Lindy Bain Trail on Golf Drive that leads down to the golf course pond. A good sized flock of birds was foraging in a grassy area near some new home construction, and I suspected that some grass seed had been put down there. I walked over to the flock of 30+ birds, and saw that almost all of them were Chipping Sparrows, with a few Dark-eyed Juncos, Song Sparrows, and House Finches. It was tough to get an accurate bird count, as they flock dispersed whenever a car drove by, or if I got too close, only to return a minute or so later. Chipping Sparrows are abundant here in the summer months, but rare during the winter. I have seen Chipping Sparrows here in Old Trail during previous winters, including 50+ of them in January 2018, but hadn't seen one here in Old Trail since this past late autumn.
16 Chipping Sparrows
Chipping Sparrows
Chipping Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
One of the Chipping Sparrows (lower left in the following photos) looked very pale to me, and different than the rest of the Chipping Sparrows. If it didn't have dark lores, I would have thought it might have been a Clay-colored Sparrow, as it does seem to have some other Clay-colored Sparrow features. My references state that Chipping and Clay-colored Sparrows do hybridize, and I'll leave it to the readers to offer opinions.
Chipping Sparrows
Chipping Sparrows
Chipping Sparrows
Chipping Sparrows
Chipping Sparrows
Chipping Sparrows
Chipping Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
I started down the trail, and at there's a small bridge down the short hill that crosses a small creek. There were 20+ Dark-eyed Juncos foraging there, and more than I have seen here all winter. The female Common Merganser that has been here since December 2, or perhaps even earlier, was in the grasses on the far side of the golf course pond.
Dark-eyed Junco
Common Merganser
I continued around the pond, and then hiked a bit in Western Park. I ended up with 22 avian species today, including 7 sparrow species, but failed to see a Swamp Sparrow, even though I know that this species is in the wetlands area of the park.
Field Sparrow
Song Sparrow
House Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Northern Mockingbird
Northern Mockingbird
Winter and Carolina Wrens
As I hiked on the trail along the park, I spotted a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk perched about 30 feet from me. When it saw me raise my camera for a photo, it flew to another tree about 10 feet away, stayed for less than a minute, and then flew across the trail less than 5 feet from my face and then off to the west and out of view. A short time later, one of our adult Red-shouldered Hawks was circling over the park and calling for junior.
Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk
Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk
Adult Red-shouldered Hawk