Off in left field

Last weekend was the May Two Four weekend. Yes, I know that May 24 is part of this weekend, but trust me, last weekend was the celebration of Queen Victoria’s birth. Not that anybody celebrates Queen Victoria anymore.

I went down to Point Pelee for the birding. It wasn’t as spectacular as the previous weekends (I had seen Mississippi Kite and Black Vulture as well as being one day off for seeing the Lark Bunting that showed up) but it was still a good day (It ended with a pair of Laughing Gulls). I managed to see more than 20 species of warbler (good years I’m over 25 and I had one year with 30).

This was also a good year for sparrows, my having seen Clay-colored, White-crowned, White-thoated, Field, Swamp, Song, Lincoln’s, Fox, Sanannah, and hundreds of Chipping (not counting the Juncos and Towhees (which may or may not be sparrows)). You will notice (as if you care) that I mentioned Field Sparrow in that list. I didn’t see very many of them this year, but I’m still seeing them.

Field sparrows are losing their prime breeding habitat. They like early succession grasslands, which implies they colonize in the years after a fire or other major disturbance. Management of fires is a major factor in their declining numbers. And while they also like agricultural fields, their nests tend to get ploughed before the nestlings have fully fledged. It’s unlikely that this species will be threatened with extinction, but its numbers are still declining. In fact, their numbers have dropped by 68% in the past forty years.