Golden-crowned Sparrow, Hingham, MA, May 2016

A tantalizing e-mail came across the MA listserve in early May saying that a Golden-crowned Sparrow was spotted at a private residence somewhere in Hingham, MA.  And then two days later came another post that discussions had been held with the homeowners and their neighbors where approval was obtained to allow birders to visit the yard in a somewhat controlled manner.  A process was set up where individual birders would ask for details on the bird’s location, and then the information would be forwarded back to you directly (and not to the listserve).  Since Golden-crowned Sparrow would not only be a new species for my MA list, but also new for my New England list, I was happy to play by the rules, and requested and then received the details on how and where to find the bird. 

The next morning I was on the way to Hingham, getting a very early start to beat the rush hour.  At 7 AM I was the first birder to arrive along the sidewalk outside the homeowner’s yard to start my vigil.  The bird was being seen at the feeders as well as foraging in the beds and shrubbery in his yard.  And it was even singing at times.  So with multiple places to look, I was happy to be joined by a couple other birders to have more eyes searching for the Sparrow. 

I had only been waiting a few minutes when I spotted a large sparrow in a forsythia hedge in the yard behind where it was typically seen.  I only got brief and partially obstructed views of the bird, but could see the gold and black crown striping confirming that it was the Golden-crowned Sparrow.  Then it dropped down toward the ground out of site.  The views weren’t very good, but at least the pressure was off.  And despite being able to check it off, I decided to stay a little longer to see if it might come closer into the yard and feeders in front of us to give a better view.  Minutes later there was some motion in a raised flower bed in front of the house.  And a few seconds after that the Golden-crowned popped out into the open providing great views.  And better yet, a minute later it flew to a small bush and sat there for several moments.  It was so cooperative that I was able to get these photos holding my phone up to my binoculars.

Golden-crowned Sparrow was #410 for me in MA, and #435 for my entire New England list.  I’ve now seen this species in the four Pacific coast states in its regular range, as well as in CO and MA as a rarity.