Harris's
Sparrow in Imperial County
Jan 07,
2004
Bob Miller
What else will be
found in this prime habitat?!
60 species (list follows at end
of page)
Click on
thumbnail pictures for full-sized shots.
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Harris's Sparrow
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Harris's Sparrow
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| This beautiful Harris's Sparrow was found at the
intersection of Noffsinger and Welch Roads near Niland in northern
Imperial Valley. The field at this location has some of the
best sparrow habitat I have seen and someone with better ears than I
will turn up more rarities here! From the street sign post at
the intersection, the Harris's Sparrow is several hundred feet to
the SE, in the larger Quail Bush (atroplex) that will be obvious
from that point. The area is managed by Desert Wildlife Unlimited
and California Dept. of Fish & Game. Desert Wildlife
Unlimited was the initial driving force and still a big part
of the New River Wetlands Project! This field is part of
the Upland Game Heritage project. The numerous sites,
scattered around the north end of the Imperial Valley, are open to
the general public and sign posted as such. |
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Harris's Sparrow
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Harris's Sparrow
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Red-winged Blackbirds
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Most of the funding comes from the $6 Upland Game Stamp
required of all hunters for dove, quail etc. I hope to get
up a map of all of the fields soon. Huge flocks of
red-winged Blackbirds swirl around overhead.
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| The fields are planted with grains and grasses to
provide habitat that is open to the general public.
Brewer's, Vesper, Savannah, Song, Lincoln's and White-crowned
Sparrows were seen as well. |
Brewer's Sparrow
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Long-billed Curlews
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Short-eared Owl, Prairie Falcon and White-tailed Kite were a
few of the many predators at the site. Other fields in the
area hold lots of the typical winter visitors. The picture below
is of your average "middle of the road" American Pipit.
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| I have been seeing few longspurs east of the prison
in their usual spot so I had set out to track them down.
Still have not figured out where the spurs have moved to but I
know I will be visiting these Upland Game Heritage sites much more
in the future. |
American Pipit
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