American Pipit, Anthrus Rubescens

Day 348: I like checking off new birds on my Life List and don't get many opportunities to do so because I don't travel. Therefore, I grabbed Peterson (where the List is kept) with great enthusiasm, only to feel somewhat deflated when I saw that I had placed a question mark and an "S" beside the listing. Pipit is a bird of the tundra; "S" stands for "Sunrise" in my notation system. The only upgrade I could conscientiously add was that I had documented the species with a photograph which allowed me to confirm a previous (if uncertain) sighting. Pipit ("Water Pipit" in Peterson, "American Pipit" in Sibley") was not a new bird for me.

This little character and his cohorts were staying ahead of me in a group on the Paradise Trail system, scampering along the edge of the trail, fluttering up to the summits of boulders occasionally where they made repeated, quick dips of their tails. That one behaviour was enough to narrow down the possibilities. Upon looking at the photo, I could pick out their field characteristics: the eye ring, the white throat, the streaking on the breast, the faint black smudge on the throat, the narrow and somewhat unusual bill shape. Yes, without a doubt, these were Pipits, and I'll let the authorities argue out the first part of their common name. And "pipit" was what they piped to me as they ran along ahead, escorting me on my hike. "Pipit! Pipit!" Sometimes even experienced birders forget to listen to what their little friends are telling them. "Pipit! That's me! That's me!"