Mason Farm Biological Reserve

Good-bye warblers, hello sparrows!

We have turned the corner into late fall/early winter, as far as birding goes. The upside is we do less neck-breaking observation of the tops of trees where warblers tend to flutter about. They have flown south. Sparrows have flown in, and they tend to prefer shrubs.

The downside is that so many sparrows look alike, at least at first glance. Or they DON’T look alike because of posture, lighting, maturity…but they actually are the same type of bird. For example, both of these are Swamp Sparrows.

Fortunately there is a wonderful Facebook group called

I’ve posted many a photo on that site, and usually within 5 seconds, a fellow birder will have a correct ID for me. Because if there’s one thing birders love to do, is provide accurate identifications to those who are….lesser birders. Nah, I am being unkind to a great group of people. It’s only 5% pride and 95% just wanting to be helpful.

Anyway, me and this retired guy went out on a TUESDAY MORNING to enjoy a 2-mile loop at Mason Farm Biological Reserve, located just south of UNC Chapel Hill.

Our target bird was the Red-headed Woodpecker, and although we heard 3 of them, the only one we saw was a juvenile, which is more of a drabber version–the NOT AT ALL RED-headed woodpecker. This photo [NOT mine] shows the difference.

In addition to the Red-headed Woodpecker we saw Pileated, Downy, Hairy, and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, and Northern Flickers. A Six Woodpecker Day is a very good day, indeed! The only one missing that is available in this county was the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, which we have seen in the big trees behind our house.

And Loren likes me to include a photo of myself, so here you go.