Lincoln's Sparrow at Cold Creek

Wikipedia Photo by Terry Sohl

Dave Milsom, intrepid birder from Bolton, Ontario, has just added Lincoln's Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii) to the Cold Creek Conservation Area's bird checklist. It brings the list's total to 122 species. Dave saw two Lincoln's Sparrows on October 25th, along with Golden and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, American Tree Sparrows, a Sharp-shinned Hawk, a Northern Harrier and numerous Grackles and Red-wing-Blackbirds. The Lincoln's Sparrow was not named for Abraham Lincoln. This wee skulker, which has been described as being afraid of its own shadow, was named by James Audubon after his friend, Thomas Lincoln, of Dennysville, Maine. Lincoln shot the bird on a trip with Audubon to Nova Scotia in 1834, and Audubon named it "Tom's Finch" in his honor. Mercifully, cameras have replaced shotguns in the interim.

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