Saturday's (
5-26-18) trip to the marsh yielded another lifer and another mystery bird.
A pair of spotted towhees have been hanging out around the #2 viewing platform for a month. I suspect they have a nest nearby. Their bright colors contrast nicely with the spring green of the surrounding foliage.
A pair of northern rough-winged swallows were another "lifer" for me. The birds are not uncommon in this area, I had just never seen any before Saturday. In the past I probably mistook them for juvie or female tree or violet-green swallows, which are more common at the marsh.
Another birder ID-ed them, citing their overall brown color.
The underside of one in flight matched the illustration in my
Sibley's.
Mystery bird. I thought it was a juvie house finch, but it lacks stripes on its breast that I have seen in photos. It also lacks the stripes and bill coloration of a juvie dark-eyed junco. My last guess would be a juvie house sparrow.