[mou] rapids lake unit carver county - Lark Sparrows and unique grosbeak

[Ben Parke]

Took a jaunt through the Rapid's Lake Unit.  I ran across around six adult and juvenile Lark Sparrows down the hill from the visitor center.  More interesting was a Grosbeak I found sitting in a tree just past the end of the paved trail going down from the visitor center.  It had a very distinct white eyestripe with a black crown.  The auriculars were brown and the throat, breast, and sides were more of a beige/ocher.  The wings were also brown and had white spots in the scapulars/coverts area.  The rump also appeared to be more of a beige or ocher color.  The bill was a definate grosbeak bill and was brownish.  The tail was also uniformly brown.  There was no streaking whatsoever on the breast.  Based on those marks, the closest bird I can find in any of my books is a juvenile or female Black-Headed Grosbeak which would obviously be quite out of range unless it was some sort of hybrid.  It sat in the tree (oak tree?) for quite some time and
 afforded me excellent looks.  Curious what others would think or to see if anyone else runs across the bird.

Ben


      
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