Spotted Towhee

This Spotted Towhee will soon be making its way to the central plains of the United States for the winter. I caught this bird on the shrubbery in front of my home, hence the background pavement colour. The bird was close enough to hear the shutter "click" on the camera, obviously not a sound it was familiar with!

I enjoyed the perplexed poses of this Towhee, though it did eventually figure out that the noises were coming from my direction, and it went its way.

These birds are classed as New World Sparrows, though they are a good deal bigger than the size we usually associate with sparrows. A walk down the pole-line in summer will almost certainly give you a sight of several - they are very common.