Is that yellow I see on the goldfinch's wings? They're beginning to develop breeding color! A very good sign of spring. Today the temperature went into the mid-fifties and I actually heard the red-wing songs (some people say "O-ca-ree", I hear "Skreeee"). A few red-wing males have been here for about a month but without a peep until today. Two grackles also appeared today and I heard their soft chit-chit calls; no creaking sounds yet. I'm sure they will all shut up as soon as it gets cold again, as it will, but the trend is definitely toward spring. Halleluja! Claire

YESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is the hermit thrush!!!! (NOT EVEN LISTED in the MAssachusetts bird book which has 280 pages / 2 pages per bird, or about 140 birds) and he is NOT singing!!!(even though he is listed as having the most beautiful song of the songbirds of North America)-- he is just scrounging for food. Also, I appreciated the song sparrow ID, as well, because that helped identify yet another bird in the collection. So big THANKS to Jeanner (glorious photos!!!--what camera do you use?)and Kendra2 (such a cute pic of sparrow in the snow!) for helping me out. I'm just thrilled to have a Vermonter (hermit thrush is the state bird of Vermont) visiting at our place.

Yes, guides with arrows pointing to field marks aren't the ultimate in identification. Guides with notes about other birds with similar characteristics and then explanations about what to look for the tell the two apart are helpful. I have found that in most cases where IDs are difficult it's really beneficial to research more than one resource. We really have some tools now that weren't commonly available even fifteen years ago and that's access to the internet and cheaper digital cameras. I keep a digital right by the regular birding window. I take rapid frames of the birds in question from as many angles as I can. Sometimes you don't have time to focus and be fussy. Getting a less than perfect picture is not always a failure. If it helps you to catch the target sitting next to a known bird, immediately you have a handle on size. I also prefer real photographs I find on this forum, because painted representations just leave too much to artistic license. LOL. I sometimes wonder how many really cool sparrows I missed by logging them as something common? So many folks just causally dismiss them because they look similar. This is where you sometimes find your lifers! Keep a notepad handy to your observation station to mark down anything you notice on field marks. I have a good memory but the image in the brain can play tricks on you quickly. Draw a pic if you must, and try to catch some photos. Document, document and document.

Looks like you have plenty of House Sparrows, one with white in its wings, a Carolina Wren and a Downey Woodpecker. All of your Sparrows are House Sparrows in these pics, a mixure of juvies, males and females. There was one year I had a young House Sparrow that had white in its wings and tail feathers, never did get a pic of it but it looked really different like that one of yours does. Not sure what you have in your feeders but if you are feeding seed with millet or corn in it you may want to switch to something without those in so as to not attract the House Sparrows as much. Donna