Some experienced birders can identify a bird by its call, but, except with a few common birds, I am not one of the them. I need to be able to see a bird to identify it, and that is a challenge at this time of the year, when most of the leaves are still on the trees.
Last week as I was exploring a trail at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I heard a bird singing almost directly in front of me. As my eyes searched among the leaves, the bird kept on singing and eventually I located it. I could see that it was a sparrow and often that is an identification problem for me, because sparrows fall into the group of little brown birds that all basically look the same. However, in this case, I could see a dark spot on the breast of the bird, which usually means that it is a Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia).
I was happy to be able to capture a few shots of the little Song Sparrow before it flew away. If you are curious about the sound of the Song Sparrow’s song, check out this page on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website, where there are several audio and video clips of this birds songs and calls.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
It makes my day to see these wonderful creatures and you capture them so well, Mike. Lovely work.
Nice Mike! I know what you mean! Only a few birds can I ID by their call. I really need to see them. But still have trouble with some of the smaller birds!
I played the video and freaked my cat out a little… lol! 🐦😊 A beautiful song for such a little bird! 👍 Great photos too!
Great shots, Mike. I love hearing the song sparrows that visit us in spring and summer. I miss them already!