Every year I help with the Lititz CBC – this year it was held on Dec 29 – and I was helping Bruce Carl in his section 12 area – which is in and around the Elm/Locust Grove area of Lancaster county.
The day was cool and overcast with rain forecast starting in the early afternoon…so our game plan to hit all the ‘hot’ spots before the rain began. We started the day owling at 4am and had Saw whet, Great Horned and Screech Owl before the sun had risen.
The day was proceeding as planned when we arrive at a woodlot along Boyer Run Road around 1:45 pm – we noticed a few Junco’s, White Throated sparrows some other birds moving around the area. We scanned those birds and as we are standing along the roadside talking – another bird popped up – a lighter colored slightly larger bird then the other sparrows we had been seeing…we immediately put our bins on the bird and where amazed to see a Lark Sparrow.
Needless to say, we where both rather excited about this rare find. As of this writing the Lark Sparrow has been hanging around the same area and been providing many birders the opportunity to add a rare bird to their PA and overall life list. It always amazes me where these rare birds show up and how the are mostly accidently found – makes you wonder how many are out there that we don’t know about. Below is a link to the ebird hotspot with directions and recent sightings.
Lark Sparrow ebird hotspot
The moral of the story – keep looking at all the birds you see as you never know what you will see in your bins or where it will show up…. perhaps the next rare bird will be in your backyard.
Until next time
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