Savannah Sparrow

I saw this Savannah Sparrow at Fernhill Wetlands today. Their numbers sure seem to be off from last year. Other than when they first started showing up this spring, I rarely see them. Last year they were always flushing up from the grass as I walked both Fernhill and TRNWR.

Savannah Sparrow

I saw my first Savannah Sparrows of the year at Jackson Bottom last Sunday. They were up to their old tricks of laying low in the grass and then flying away, just out of range, as I got near. It was great to see them again.

Savannah Sparrow

These pictures of a Savannah Sparrow were taken shortly before those of the Belted Kingfisher I posted yesterday. I believe these benefited from stopping the lens down a couple of stops as the light was better and the result appears to be sharper than I would have expected at the distance I was away.
I was happy to get the opportunity to take these shots as I have been trying to get some descent shots of Savannah Sparrows. As I mentioned in a past post, they are rather flighty and weary of letting you get too close. They also unintentionally taunt you by running along the path, just out of range and most of the time with their back to you. This one, however, was quite cooperative, although it would have been nice to get even closer.

Savannah Sparrow

Savannah Sparrows are becoming more common. I first saw a bunch of them at Fernhill Wetlands a couple of weeks ago. I saw this one yesterday at TRNWR. They are harder to shoot than Song Sparrows as they will either hide in the grass until you get too close and then fly away or will continue to move along the ground ahead on the trail, never allowing you to get too close. This last behavior results in them often having their back towards you. That tends to be annoying when you are trying to take their picture.

Going Raw

Went out at lunch and tried shooting in Raw. Pictures are definitely sharper. Now I need a good editing program as iPhoto does not seem to recognize the Nikon Raw format.
Update: I've been trying to identify this bird. I think it is a Savannah Sparrow.