Today I had a little time to visit the VOA following up on a post from
4/7/07 on the Cincinnati <http://cincinnatibirds.com/goodbird/sighting.php>
Birds sightings log  of a sparrow-like bird with white outer tail feathers.
I was there from about 12:10 p.m. until about 1:00 p.m. I searched the area
described on the sightings log and did not find the bird at first, so I
drove around to other parts of the property where I managed to find 2
Northern Harriers, 1 American Kestrel, 1 Red-tailed Hawk, 20+ Eastern
Meadowlarks and 2 Wilson's Snipe.



I went back to the main access road near the park permit booth and drove
slowly along the wooden fence. Suddenly a small bird with white outer tail
feathers flew onto the fence but quickly flew off to a ditch with a small
amount of water along the road that leads into the Important Bird Area past
the booth. This bird was very skittish and there was really no place to park
the car in this immediate vicinity. I drove past where the bird flew but
could not relocate it. I had to turn the car around and double back. When I
drove down to the end of the fence and circled back, I found the bird again.
This time the bird was more cooperative as it foraged for about 2-3 minutes
along the roadside before flying off again. Staying in the car and viewing
the bird only a few feet away on the driver's side, I was able to make out
the white eye ring and faint streaking on the upper breast and flanks. The
chestnut shoulder patch was not visible on this bird (this mark is rarely
visible on the species). This bird was paler than most other sparrows with
which I am familiar and the streaking on the head was also very fine. There
was one mark on this bird that seems much paler in most field guides I have
seen. The auriculars were more of a chestnut coloration on this bird than
the usual tan. The auriculars were bordered in black.



David A. Brinkman

Cincinnati, OH

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