Re: bird seeking
Noel Wamer (nwamer@nac.net)
Wed, 11 Nov 1998 12:20:01 -0500
Lydia wrote:
>Hi, all--
>
>Later this month I will be driving down the east coast
>to northern Florida. Any advice for a Bachman's sparrow
>this time of year?
>
Lydia and Other Readers,
I am sorry to bear bad news, but Bachman's Sparrow may be one of the most
difficult southern specialty birds to find during the late fall and winter.
They rival, if not exceed, Henslow's Sparrow in mouse-like behavior.
Although it is likely that there are just as many in the proper habitat as
during the nesting season, they become virtually invisible. As a vertern
of many Deep South CBCs, on which this species is especially sought, I
cannot recall finding more than a half a dozen in twenty years.
Having said that, I will add that Bachman's does have a very distinctive
call note, that as far as I can tell is regularly heard only near dawn and
dusk. It is a series of high pitched, short metallic
notes...ti,ti,ti,ti,ti, etc. given in very rapid succession. Most of the
ones I have reported on CBCs have been from call notes.
As for locations, the obvious choices are the National Forests. Marion in
SC, or Osceola and Ocala in FL. Driving slowly near dawn and dusk on the
myriad of dirt roads in the forests might be the best strategy. However,
these areas will also be swarming with deer hunters at this season.
Later...
Noel Wamer
Parsippany, NJ, US
nwamer@nac.net -- http://www.users.nac.net/nwamer
"A strange bird may cause a slight unrest until it is named..."
(Walker Percy)