Another Nelson's

Counting this weekend and today, 7 of the last 10 Nelson's Sparrow records are from Berrien (and an even higher percent if you add in the multi individuals from a couple of those).

We popped this bird up in the rightful location, Tiscornia.

When it flushed out of the grass my initial instant impression was that it was a Monarch Butterfly.  The other spring Nelson's that I saw in flight before I saw it perched made me think female Baltimore Oriole.  The moral is that if you see an orange sparrow, you should probably track it down.  LeConte's is much paler (and will usually show a buffy rump especially if it's overcast).  The napes on these spring Nelson's are a little greener than they are in fall when the dark gray really pops in flight.

It was the the dark gray crown stripe though through the view finder when it did perch that confirmed the ID:

This bird took full advantage of that strategically placed leaf to hide its face, I only have this one from the initial series that shows the face when it turned back to see what all the clicking was.

It hopped one bush over and sat for awhile.  The bright wash across the breast is helpful to separate the Sharptailed species and subspecies.  I've never managed to connect with any of the ocean-side Ammos though I have tried in Virginia and Florida.