Black-chinned Sparrow-Wash. County

[cldavis at xmission dot com]

Saturday was a little slow starting out in the Washington Fields--only
violet-green swallows, turkey vultures, song sparrows, vesper sparrows, and
white-crowned sparrows.
Then we headed up Silver Reef towards Oak Grove campgrounds. The drive up
the canyon was beautiful and the skies were clearing with the sun shining
brightly. First off we spotted a Say's phoebe, spotted towhees, blue-gray
gnatcatchers, bushtits, scrub jays, ruby-crowned kinglets, and a Bewick's
wren.  Not far from the fork where the Oak Grove road takes off to the
right, we heard a bird song that was definitely one we'd heard on Thayer's
and we knew it was a sparrrow.  Checking the book we decided it must be a
black-chinned sparrow.  We searched and searched but were unable to see
him, so we headed further up the road.  About half-way to Oak Grove we
heard the same song so we pulled off and played the black-chinned sparrow
song.  Within one minute he was there and singing.  What a cutie he was. We
will post the photos when we get home.  
We headed back down the canyon and over to Red Cliffs Campground and found
more Say's phoebes. Heading back out we saw some black phoebes at the
historic Adams house, a rock wren and a lesser goldfinch. 
In Harrisburg we heard another bird call we were not familiar with and it
turned out to be a cute little verdin. 
A great time in a beautiful part of the state.  We're glad we stayed an
extra day.  
Carol

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