Duck and Cover

 

 

 

"They scattered into the trees, leaving no traces besides the memories of them swooping across the skies moments before"

 

-Field Notes 10/9/13

 

This week I couldn't help but still observe the birds that first appeared to me last week, the Sagebrush Sparrow. When I sat down Saturday night for my daily observation, I saw the tiny birds doing there normal routines. They would crash down from the sky to the dark pavement and scurry around for a few seconds grabbing what twigs meet their standards then would rise back to the trees hidden from sight. Then they disappeared for ten maybe fifteen minutes. Which is where that quote from above comes in. I looked around and found something really interesting, there were two blue birds swirling around the sky. Immediately I thought they were hunting my little friends that I've been observing. "The predators stalked the sky before they dived and made a perfect ten landing on the fence next to me" - Field notes 11/8/14

"One of the Blue Jays on the fence" Picture taken by Aaron Mastin on 11/8/14



 



The Blue Jays stayed for awhile but, when they left the Sparrows came back out and continued their daily routine. So I wondered if the Blue Jays were predators of my Sparrows so I looked it up. On the National Geographic page about Blue Jays it says Blue Jays are not carnivorous. Then goes on to say that Blue Jays will rarely eat meat and will settle for acorns, nuts and seeds. Sometimes they do attack smaller birds but, this is very out of the ordinary (National Geographic). So this leads me to think that they weren't responsible for the disappearance of my friends. Then what was? Maybe it was just an afternoon power nap.

 

The Sagebrush Sparrows came back out to finish their daily chores and right when I was about to call it a night they started dancing in the distance using the sunset as their backdrop. All they looked like were little black dots flying from one end of the sunset to the other, as if it was a race. Here's a picture of it below but, it was hard to catch them flying in picture so I didn't catch them with the sunset.

 "Picture of the sunset that day" Taken by Aaron Mastin on 11/9/14

Works Cited

"Blue Jays, - National Geographic." National Geographic. N.P, 11 Oct. 2013. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.

 

Follow The Heat

"The birds flew around in a pair, in synchronization. Turning, twisting, and spinning there away across the road in a never ending dance" -Field notes 10/30/14

The birds I'm describing here are known as Sagebrush Sparrows. They are a common bird in this part of Nevada that nests here during the summer. Their not huge birds, all the ones I saw were no bigger than my hand. The interesting thing I noticed was I've been seeing these little singers for a couple weeks now but, I have never seen one alone. So I did the next logical thing anyone does when they have a question I Goggled it. What I found was very interesting. The Sagebrush Sparrow is actually a migratory bird that nests in this part of Nevada during the summer where it is a nice hot dry environment that is perfect for laying their eggs according to whatbird.com.

Migration range for the Sagebrush Sparrow 

Then in the winter times when it gets to cold and frosty for the birds they migrate south to the border states and northern Mexico. This isn't what interests me about the birds though.

Well as we all know winter is here in the Sierras, so why am I still seeing these sun loving, beach bum birds who adore soaking up all the heat? Well luckily I found an answer. Sagebrush Sparrows migrate in small groups of  up to 15 birds max but, if any of the birds get left by their flock they wont migrate with anyone else. They'll set up base camp and try to endure the cold harsh winter of the biggest little city in the world. 

These birds aren't just connected to the sun by following its warm rays of light throughout the year, but they are also a overlooked beauty just like the sun is. While I was watching these birds I could see their darker heads pick up twigs along the ground and carry them up, up, up in till they were out of sight. I could also see there skinny little legs run across the pavement as I got closer and closer. These birds are a beauty of their own but, if you look below I can almost guarantee you've seen them before. So next time maybe the extra time to look closer will be worth it!

Dick, Gary. "WhatBird.com." Sagebrush Sparrow. Mitch Waite Group. Web. 2 Nov. 2014.