Greetings from the West,

Micki and I were looking at shorebirds at the Thomas Wetlands this morning around 11:30 when Micki spotted a sparrow-sized bird with large white patches on its wings and white corners on the tail  flying across the pond.  It landed in a small tree at the north edge of the pond.  After a few anxious moments with the scope, I zoomed in on a grayish sparrow with a fairly short tail.  The head was obscured by leaves.   It only remained there for a minute or so and then promptly flew across the field and appeared to land in a row of trees about 1/4 mile to the north.  Subsequent attempts to relocate the bird proved unsuccessful.  

I estimated the size of the bird to be between six and seven inches.  The color of the wings, back and tail appeared to be a fairly uniform grayish brown at the distance of 500 feet when seen through our Kowa scope.    As far as identification, we know of no other sparrow-sized bird with this distinctive wing pattern.  

Interestingly enough, a check of Ohio sightings showed that two Lark Buntings were seen near Deshler, Ohio on this exact date (August 6) in 1945!  

Thomas Wetlands is located at the intersection of Twp. Rd. 61 and County Road 176, about 2 miles east of the village of Antwerp, Ohio.


Bird long and prosper,
Doug & Micki Dunakin

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