Just an interesting observation on a common species. Over the last couple of weeks I have had a huge buildup of White-crowned Sparrows in my yard. (Boise Highlands Area, Ada County). The vast majority are first year birds. I have seen at one time 15 on the ground under my feeders. There are 2 to 3 adults that show up from time to time. Also interesting is I am hearing quite a lot of singing going on. I am not sure I remember this from past years — but I don’t keep records on that sort of thing. Pieplow’s book says males sing all year round. The vocalizations don’t sound like clear adult songs but maybe the first year birds learning and trying out their songs. More like the subsong on the Peterson web site that goes with Pieplow’s book. I am going to dust off my recording gear and capture some snippets. Will post on eBird.

Scott