White-throated Sparrow at Virginia Lakes

From: C. McCreedy and L. Culp
Email: cmccreedy@prbo.org
Remote Name: 209.221.197.248
Date: 10/12/02
Time: 10:47:47 PM

Description

Leah and I had a great hike up to the Virgina/Green Creek divide. On the way back (at 9800')we ran across a flock of: an adult and hatch-year Gambel's White-crowned Sparrow, two hatch-year Golden-crowned Sparrows, and a hatch-year White-throated Sparrow. We had six or seven minutes of observation on the WTSP: streaky breast and flanks, coagulating in a general, small central breast spot, thick brown crown stripes, hazy white supercilium with yellowish lores, grey cheeks. We detected the rufous tint to the coverts, very streaky back, and of course, its well defined and very white throat. It was perhaps 200 m in from the trailhead, where the trail follows the edge of a lodgepole forest whose trees also ooze juncos. It was Leah's first WTSP, and my first on the Eastside, we were enthralled.