April 6 2013. Beamer Falls Conservation Area. Grimsby, ON. There’s a place not far from here that has become the place to watch migrant hawks returning in spring to breed. It can be pretty spectacular, I’ve been there on mid April days to see hundreds of Sharp-shinned Hawks buzz by at tree-top level, and I recall one warm cumulus cloud day when we tallied over 2,400 Broad-winged Hawks circling high overhead. But it can be a bit hit and miss and we’ve come to appreciate and expect other reliable passage migrants including Tree Swallows, Blue Jays and Northern Flickers.
Fox Sparrows are also regulars at this time of year. They hang around with American Tree Sparrows, Song Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos scratching in the leaf litter beneath some sunflower and millet loaded feeders. It was a bit cold for hawks this morning so, from the shelter of my car I tried, without great success, to see if I could get a decent photograph of a Fox Sparrow. As sparrows go they’re quite pretty, melodious and even enchanting, but for all that there’s no Fox Sparrow Appreciation Society that I’m aware of. Maybe it’s because they’re just sparrows which puts them in the LBJ (little Brown Job) category. Such dismissal is a loss to society because foxies are cut above ordinary brown, they have rich chestnut-red wings, rump and tail feathers, a liberal sprinking of reddish spots on their flanks and breast, and a patch of chestnut on their cheeks. (Click on the picture above at left to get a better idea.) It’s true that they tend to skulk out of sight a lot, but they make up for it by singing frequently, a musical song that Pete Dunne (who always seems to masterfully capture the essence of a song) describes as “Sounds like a lazy or dreamy R2-D2 of Star Wars fame”.
As for hawks, well there were a few. Perhaps my bird of the day should have been the Northern Goshawk that sailed low overhead, skirting the edge of the parking lot allowing us all a good look. Dozens of Turkey Vultures waltzed by like a parade of undertakers, a single Sharp-shinned Hawk darted through the trees carrying what I suspect was formerly a junco, and an American Kestrel spun low overhead fanning its banded tail as it turned. But I liked the Fox Sparrows best, maybe even enough to start a Fox Sparrow Appreciation Society.