We were birding on Fargo Rd. in Carroll Co. this morning and were able to find all our target birds--Henslow sparrows, grasshopper sparrow, dickcissels, & bobolinks--and then some.  One of the sparrows I saw has me wondering. I had a pretty good look at it (though I could only see it's head and chest) and I first thought it was a Lark Sparrow.  It had a clear breast with a single breast spot and the head pattern was the distinctive patter of a lark sp.--dark mustache, white malar strip, brown cheek, dark line behind the eye, white supercilium and striped crown.  But the cheek color was more of a light brown, definitely not the reddish brown of a lark.  Looking in my Stokes field guide it looks like a 1st winter bird but this seems too early for that plumage.  This bird definitely had no streaking on the breast.  As I look through the guide, I see the Clay-colored sparrow has the same facial pattern.  I have only ever seen that bird a couple of times and those have been several years ago.  Both birds would be rare.  



Has anyone seen either of these birds there or have a feel for which one it would most likely be?  I am leaning towards clay-colored but only because it seems unlikely a lark would be in winter plumage this early in the year.
Laura Dornan


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