When I moved to Florida I was very new to birding, and I knew next to nothing about sparrows. I remember going to take our dog Ella to a dog park.
I didn’t know at the time that right next to this dog park was the best place to find warblers in Seminole County, Central Winds Park.
Anyway, I remember walking from the dog park to Lake Jesup and seeing sparrows.
I had no idea what they were, but I took a couple photos (terrible ones with a point and shoot camera), and later determined they were Chipping Sparrows.
The odd thing is that since that first visit I’ve been to Central Winds (including the dog park area) 250 times and seen 152 speices in the park. However, I haven’t seen single sparrow since that first visit–no Savannah Sparrows, no Swamp Sparrows, nothing.
However, this week I’ve started seeing Chipping Sparrows here again. And a couple have even been pretty cooperative. Now it would be great to see some other sparrows here too – Clay-colored would be nice.
Scott Simmons
Scott Simmons, based in Florida, is a lover of nature, landscape, and wildlife photography. Scott became interested in photography in 2001 when he was given his first SLR camera. When he acquired a telephoto lens, he became progressively more interested in birds and other wildlife. Scott enjoys learning about bird habitats and behavior, striving always to take images that are both beautiful and interpretive. Scott believes photography is a great vehicle to help others to appreciate the wonder for the stuff of earth.
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