Early morning, in the canyon again.
More clearly (blinking).
Peering into places where birds might be…
…and where Rufous-crowned Sparrows were yesterday…
…and are today!
Briefly.
I sigh, and wait for them to get closer.
Which they do,
but neither openly, nor in good light. Taunting me!
Somehow I will get a good photo of one of these. Just not today.
With this species, I have seen all of the Aimophila genus found in the United States. Sadly for me, there is only 1 US species left in this genus since the last taxonomic shuffle (see my post “Aimophila, or not” from April). I have seen all of the US Peucaea sparrows (Botteri’s, Cassin’s, and Bachman’s) and almost all of the other “formerly Aimophila” group, except for a few pesky species not to be named for fear of jinxing myself. They sit in Amphispiza, and I am going to try to find them before my big year is done. Don’t even get me started on Ammodramus. I have a bone to pick with a couple of them.
