Clay-colored Sparrow

This Clay-colored Sparrow is not a common visitor to this province. I was able to find and get a few photographs in early December before the snow fall.

This is one of the first birds that I photographed and I didn't have much of a chance. It took me a while to realize that it was the Clay-colored and then to get set up for a couple of shots.

It was quite active and I didn't get any clear images but this is a fair record shot.  In several of the pictures that I took, the branches blocked the head of the bird so I didn't post them.  The color of this bird does not seem as rich as the pictures in the books, but the markings are true to the Clay-colored. It is possibly because this is a winter coat.

I am not sure if this is a female or male. After all of the sparrows that I have posted today, it is easy to see how difficult it can be to identify the differences. It is kind of like the seagull series that I posted over the winter.

I have one more sparrow to post in the near future. Now, at last, I can upload my many weekend pictures from from my camera to my computer. I can hardly wait to see them all.