[Douglbirds] First Chipping Sparrow

[ouzels8]

            Walking down the driveway for the newspaper this morning, April 10, Urling and I saw two first-of-the-year Chipping Sparrows. 

It seemed early, so I checked the records for the 10 years we have lived here, and sure enough. Except for 2006, when the first Chipping Sparrow appeared on April 4 (and none again until April 16), all first dates have ranged from April 13-25. 

Average first date: April 19. 



            Earlier arrival pattern? Who knows. Bluebirds don't look quite the same.    



            First Mountain for 2008: Feb. 28. First dates range from Feb. 7 to Mar. 8, average Feb. 23.

            First Western for 2008, March 10; first dates range from Mar. 4-18, average Mar. 14. 

They differ, however, in that they arrived to nest in our boxes only in 2004. In the six years before that, we recorded them only twice, and on April 23 and 25, and only twice each spring.



Hugh Kingery
Franktown, CO 
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