Birding is sometimes like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get... or for that matter, when. I focus on my neighborhood wildlife I would rather see lifebirds here than travel elsewhere to find them. It is so much more of an enriching experience, especially if I am the first tgo discover it.
In some cases, though, it is beneficial to study a bird elsewhere so you know it well enough to recognize it in the neighborhood when it finally does arrive. Or perhaps it's just that I lose patience and take the easy way out. One example of lost patience was the Elegant Trogan, for which, after some years of hoping for a sighting in our neighborhood, I broke down and went to Madera Canyon, where I received excellent views.
It was the same story for the Sage Sparrow. I had been so hopeful of a sighting in our neighborhood
, since it is seen in outlying, areas throughout Arizona, usually in sparsely vegetated areas. Sounds logical, right? But ten years passed without any sightings, and I decided it was time to see it elsewhere to "sharpen my identification skills." It was the winter of 2009 I believe, and there was a sparrow workshop during the Wings over Willcox celebration. Rumor had it that the chances were excellent for seeing Sage Sparrows on the sparrow tour with Homer Hansen. I signed up with high hopes of seeeing my first Sage Sparrow ever, a lifer.
The class was very informative. But, as luck would have it, we were skunked on Sage Sparrows even long extensive searches in sagebrush habitat. It just wasn't a good year for them. I had at least gained more knowledge on this incredible but elusive bird.
Eight months passed. It was a Thursday in September and I was riding home after a late meeting at work. I hoped just to get home before dark. It was going to be close. By the time I rode down Woodland my cares were almost dissipated, and I exited the road into the field just before home. As I rode passed the barbed wire fence I saw movement in the rabbitbrush just ahead. It immediately intrigued me since it seemed to be running between bushes, and it wasn't a rodent, and the area was scantilly vegetated...Sage Sparrow habitat!
It was almost dusk, but luckily the bird was cooperating, staying close to the path. A look through the bins confirmed my suspicions-my first Sage Sparrow, ever, and in my neighborhood! Luckily I also had my video camera and took some altogether cheesy, but documentable video. I told some friends who know some things, especially on birds, and they came over on the weekend, finding the bird as well, while I got slightly better video. At the time they had searched the database and could not find any other records for Sage Sparrow inside the Tucson City limits. Even since then I haven't heard of any other sightings in the Tucson area.
That blissful weekend was the last time I saw the bird. In a quirky coincidence utility work was scheduled there on Monday and trucks drove over the entire corner habitat. I still search for another chance encounter with my elusive friend, hoping lightning does indeed strike twice in the same sagebrush habitat.
In the meantime, I leave you with this verse and video in honor of this bearer of good fortune in the barest of deserts, the Sage Sparrow!
Scarborough Sparrow
Have you seen a sparrow most rare...
Art thou see Sage Sparrow in time...
I searched the fields of Willcox to find him..
only to see in this neighborhood of thine
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