[EBB Sightings] It's that time!

Dear Birders:

The singular event of my birding year is here -- the annual watch for
the arrival of the first Golden-crowned Sparrows.  No bird says 'fall'
like the first sweet notes of the Golden-crowns.  I've been recording
the arrival dates for twenty-five years.  Looking over my notes I see
that the earliest arrival date was last year, on September 16.  The
latest was October 2, 1999  Arrival may have been delayed by several
very hot days prior to that date.  Most often the first sparrows show
up sometime during the week of September 23. Observers in outer Marin,
already may have sighted them. 

My ritual is to walk out to the end of my block to the UC Berkeley open
land where the grassy hill drops down steeply to the oaks and bays
along the upper reaches of the stream canyon.  It's usually from the
bushes and trees at that interface where the notes come drifting up to
me.  Being the only person about at that early hour I can perform my
celebratory stiff-legged jig unobserved.

Phila Rogers


       
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