The day before yesterday (4/2/20) I was gearing up to head over to Crystal Spring farm witch is my local birding hotspot. When I looked out the window and saw along with my normal array of Song Sparrows and Black-capped Chickadees, there was a bird that, at first glance appeared to be a Chipping Sparrow (witch also would have been exiting) mainly because of the bright red stripe on the top of its head. I rushed outside, forgetting my notebook, and realized I had mistaken and the bird I had seen was most certainly not a Chipping Sparrow. I knew this because the bird I was looking at was usually staying close to the ground and under cover as well as having gray around its head and neck and a black spot behind its eye, Chipping Sparrows will do this as well but they usually are more perky and like to go to the feeder and not just stay on the ground. Taking some pictures and looking him up on Merlin I deduced that the bird I was seeing was in fact a Swamp Sparrow. This bird is an early arrival on spring migration and a rare bird for the current time of year.

here is a picture

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