RBG. Hendrie Valley, Burlington ON. October 26th. 2020. This site is not noted for its biblical references, but this from Ecclesiasties, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:” is surely appropriate in the world birders inhabit. In the case of Fox Sparrows, today’s Bird of the Day, it is particularly apt. We expect to see them in the last two or three weeks of October and, like clockwork, my first fall sighting this year was six days ago, today I encountered another seven.
Fox Sparrows are appropriately named for their all-over foxy-red plumage which is saturated in varying intensities. All-over other than for some rather clay-coloured facial markings and the pale background to the breast splotches. We usually find them actively tossing, picking and scratching through the freshly-fallen leaf litter, they’re sometimes difficult to pick out in the leafy debris. Today’s Fox Sparrows easily made My Birds of the Day for their gorgeous colours and seasonal reliability.
The Fox Sparrow is a very widespread North American species and one of the most geographically variable. There are four subspecies and much colour variation within them, not all are nearly as foxy-red as the ones we meet around here. I remember, a dozen years ago, puzzling over an unexpected Fox Sparrow on coastal British Columbia. The western subspecies is a much sootier brown and it was a bit of a struggle to identify because my field guide emphasised the redness of more eastern populations. It was, I recall, something of a disappointment.
There was more to the day though and on our transect the Mallard count was 189 (see yesterday’s post), we watched Purple Finches feeding greedily on thick seed-heads, and found three Green–winged Teal mixed in among a group of Mallards and Wood Ducks.
