There are probably a lot of birders who don’t typically think of Bell’s and Belding’s Sparrows, and maybe don’t realize that they are subspecies of Sage and Savannah Sparrows, respectively. I’ve never seen either of these subspecies, though I’ve seen other subspecies of Sage and Savannah Sparrows in multiple states, including the “Large-Billed” Savannah Sparrow in inland CA. Although neither Bell’s nor Belding’s are separate species at this point, there is a proposal within the ABA to split the coastal Bell’s from the inland subpsecies of the Sage Sparrow. And who knows what may happen with the Belding’s Sparrow some day. So with a business trip to southern CA and a little free time on my hands, I thought I’d try to track down both of these sparrows in hopes that they may someday be new countable species.
Bell’s Sparrow is a non-migratory bird of the chaparral in southern and central CA. Reviews of this year’s e-bird sightings revealed very few recent posts. Looking back into late spring and summer of 2012 (after the inland race would have migrated away) there were a number of Bell’s Sparrow posts from various locations in the Angeles National Forest northeast of LA. So although there were no 2013 posts from this area, I hoped that this would be a regular location for them and they would be there again this year. The first place I targeted was the Chilao campground and adjacent helipad where multiple Bell’s had been reported in 2012. I arrived at the campground at dawn only to find that the wind was howling. As a result, although I was in good habitat, there was almost no bird song and few birds visible. A Hermit Warbler and several Acorn Woodpeckers were nice, but no Bell’s. I then went to the more exposed helipad site and it was even windier – no birds there at all.
Plan B consisted of some locations along a nearby road in the National Forest where 2012 posts in June looked to be from someone doing a BBS survey – locations were a half mile apart with 5 minutes stops at each site. And Bell’s were seen at 6 of these locations. I was able to recreate that birder’s locations based on mile markers on the road, and stopped at the first 3 spots where he had had Bell’s. With much less wind, and pretty good chaparral habitat, I was very optimistic. But although there were a number of passerine migrants at each stop, I found no Bell’s. When I arrived at the fourth stop I heard a Wrentit calling as soon as I got out of the call. That’s my first Wrentit in decades – I obviously don’t spend much time in this habitat. I played some tape for the sparrow with no luck, and instead spent some time looking at the migrants in the area. Then I played some more tape, heard a distant sharp chip note, and noticed a sparrow fly in to perch on a nearby bush – it was a Bell’s Sparrow. It was soon joined by another bird, and I watched them forage on the ground for quite a while. A minute later I could hear a Bell’s Sparrow singing in the distance as well. After 3 hours of searching that was a most satisfying set of observations. E-bird comes through again!
On the way to my work meetings that day I passed by a nearby location where Hooded Mergansers had been reported. Hooded Merg is one of the more common birds I need for my CA statelist so it’s a gap I’d like to fill. One e-bird post mentioned the mergs were in the NE corner of the lake which narrowed my search. After a short walk I found two female-plumaged birds swimming on the lake. That was CA statebird #354 (not counting the Bell’s Sparrow of course). I guess I was due for an easy one. In my statebird map below I now have Hooded Merg in all but 3 western states.
Also at the lake were 2 late Ross’ Geese. There were very tame and cooperative as indicated by this picture I took with my phone (with no magnification). I’ve seen late spring and summering Ross’s Geese mixed in with local tame waterfowl in a number of locations in the west.
The next day I had some time in the early morning to try for the Belding’s Sparrow. This race is a non-migratory bird of the southern CA coastal marshes. E-bird had several sightings of this race at the Ballona Wetlands which is a coastal marsh just a bit north of LAX. I arrived there in the early morning and realized this marsh was in an urban setting with very limited access. Plus I wasn’t sure exactly where I was going. I made one stop and realized I was in the wrong spot. A few minutes later I found the correct location, but it took me an additional 10 minutes to finally find a place to park. The site was a nice freshwater wetlands fed by reclaimed wastewater, with a trail around the perimeter. I started walking around the site and saw a good mix of typical marsh birds, but the only sparrows were Songs. Complicating my search was that the sprinklers came on around about a third of the site so I couldn’t get to the marsh in those locations. (I didn’t want to get covered with a spray of reclaimed water!) I had made it around almost the entire marsh when I started to second guess my strategy. Why would a Savannah Sparrow be living in a freshwater cattail marsh? That is so atypical for the Savannah Sparrows I know elsewhere in the country that live in grasslands. So I looked at my Sibley field guide and realized that Belding’s are in salt water marshes, not freshwater marshes. And I immediately noticed that there was a nice salt water marsh to the west of the Ballona Wetlands site. So I started to focus on that area and soon heard a distant call that matched the tape. A few minutes later I walked into the marsh and could hear 4 singing birds and had a close visual of one bird – quite a bit darker than the Savannahs I see elsewhere. Belding’s it is! Another successful search though certainly not an easy one. It sure would have been easier if the e-bird sightings had been more specific about where the Belding’s were located – in the saltwater marsh to the west and not actually at the Ballona Wetlands at all. In my e-bird post I made sure to include details on the location of these birds.
Someday maybe Bell’s and Belding’s will be new life birds for me. And at that point new CA statebirds as well.
