Henslow’s Sparrows are known to be skulkers, and this one had apparently been well-briefed. His ventriloquil call seemed almost to taunt us: neither here nor there and always a step ahead in the tall grass. Yet I was thrilled to hear each subdued hiccup. Tsi-lick! A life bird! One I’d searched for unsuccessfully many times. And here it was right at my feet… somewhere…

Fortunately, I’d come to the Piney Tract (a reclaimed strip mine also known as Mount Zion, State Game Lands 330 or Pennsylvania Important Birding Area 21) prepared. And not just with binoculars, spotting scope, BirdPod and sparrow-specific reference book (Rising’s The Sparrows of the US and Canada) -- I’d also brought Deb Freed, a local birder and an officer of the Seneca Rocks Audubon Society based in nearby Clarion, PA. Or rather, Deb brought me. She’d literally picked me up at my motel. Talk about supporting visiting birders! Staring blankly into the acres of tall, waving grasses I was most grateful for her companionship and knowledge of the area.

This recent morning of birding was a dream come true and several years in the making. I’d first read about the “Mount Zion strips” in Paula Ford’s Birder’s Guide to Pennsylvania. Though I live in Maine I grew up in Pittsburgh and still have family to visit there. A plan for a birding side-trip began to hatch as soon as my eyes read the magic words “Henslow’s Sparrow.”

Then, few years ago, my father happened to send me a terrific column from the Pennsylvania Game News describing the site and its exceptional litany of grassland breeding birds, including Clay-colored, Vesper, Grasshopper, and Savannah Sparrows, Upland Sandpiper, Northern Harrier, and Short-eared Owl in addition to my own quarry.

Here’s a link to the article on the website of its author, naturalist/writer Marcia Bonta:
view link

And here are some links to info online about Henslow’s Sparrow:
Conservation/status info from National Audubon: view link
On the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website: view link
On Whatbird.com: view link

When circumstances finally conspired to permit me to visit western Pennsylvania in the breeding season, I began scouring the Internet and the PABIRDS e-mail listserv for more information on the Piney Tract. I quickly found the Seneca Rocks Audubon website and its informative page on the area: view link

Straightaway I e-mailed Deb, and everything came together on a beautiful morning in late June. It doesn’t get any better, birding friends! Except we still had to find the bird.

Meanwhile, back at the grassland, Deb suggested we try another spot. Walking up a gated dirt road from which folks had often seen them in the past, we immediately heard several Henslow’s Sparrows vocalizing. There were a couple of decent song perches near the top of a shallow rise and there, sure enough, perched the singers. Distant and backlit, we could nevertheless see them well enough to confirm the ID. Yes!

But, of course, I wanted a better look, so on we strolled. A few yards up the road we met the Mel Tormé of Henslow’s Sparrows. Perched atop bluebird box #24, he vocalized energetically for some time in response to various pishes, sporting a blue color band in addition to his silver USF&W band.

Now I felt like I’d really seen this delightful and elusive grassland sparrow. And the sighting was all the more meaningful given that it took place in an area that was once ravaged by strip mining. Growing up in the “coal region” and having witnessed the heartbreaking decimation of the landscape as a child, it was good to be here, now. Henslow’s Sparrow, you were worth the wait.

In fact, I’m glad I didn’t have to wait even longer to find this increasingly rare and declining species, which originally evolved to live on the prairie grasslands. For reasons that aren’t entirely clear, Henslow’s Sparrow has all but disappeared as a breeding bird from New England and New York, and it shows up only very rarely there in migration. Finding Henslow’s Sparrows in their wintering areas, such as the Florida panhandle, is likewise a sketchy proposition. Many of us New England birders thus have to travel to see this bird, and the Piney Tract is probably one of the closest and most convenient locations for us to reliably find it.

Unfortunately, time was short for Deb and I during our morning of birding, and we left most of the sprawling Piney Tract area unexplored. Clay-colored Sparrow, which I’ve never heard or seen in the breeding season, eluded us. Perhaps I’ll make it back down there sometime. In the meantime I’m glad I can share my experience with fellow birders and hopefully support others to visit this invaluable IBA. Tsi-lick!

Peace and good birding,
Scott Cronenweth
Eons birding mentor
www.naturalpathwalks.com