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<\/a>On our walk at Fish Camp Park along Lake Kegonsa, we heard a Flicker calling so loudly but couldn’t see it anywhere. Then Annette’s eagle eyes spotted a head poking out of a small hole WAY up in a tree.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>I was snapping a few pictures and it flew out of the hole. I happened to click the shutter at just the right moment and got this shot.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Yesterday we explored Hook Lake State Wildlife area. It’s between Stoughton and Oregon. There are trails, which a lot of the state wildlife areas don’t have, and a variety of habitat including extensive wetlands. We saw many of these White-throated Sparrows. They have a beautiful little song that they were singing from the underbrush.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>This is the female White-Throated Sparrow. Correction: This is the tan-striped variation of the White-throated sparrow.<\/strong> Here’s some info from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s website: “The White-throated Sparrow comes in two color forms: white-crowned and tan-crowned. The two forms are genetically determined, and they persist because individuals almost always mate with a bird of the opposite morph. Males of both color types prefer females with white stripes, but both kinds of females prefer tan-striped males. White-striped birds are more aggressive than tan-striped ones, and white-striped females may be able to outcompete their tan-striped sisters for tan-striped males”. Isn’t that interesting?<\/p><\/div>\n