After watching Duke handle Winston-Salem State last night in an exhibition basketball game I was walking through Krzyzewskiville to meet my dad at the Sheffield Tennis Center when I noticed a small bird fluttering against a ground-level window. I easily caught it by hand and brought it into the light...
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| Grasshopper Sparrow |
...a Grasshopper Sparrow ?!?
I got my brother to snap a few iPhone photos and then let it go...
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| Grasshopper Sparrow |
The bird was clearly trying to migrate. Perhaps it struck a window and then got against the northwest face of the building.
This was my first ever Grasshopper Sparrow on migration and an exceptionally late one at that. There are only 3 prior eBird records of the species in North Carolina for the month of November.
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| Grasshopper Sparrow |
Since birds are known to be portentous (Homer et al., ca. 700 BC), I'll go ahead and declare this to be a good omen for the Duke tennis teams this coming season.
