This year there seems to be a lot of Fox Sparrows around. Yesterday I encountered 25 of them in just two hours in the forest and today I had closer to 35 of them in two hours. I always get one or two at my feeders during spring and fall migrations and this fall, as usual, I have had two scratching around under my feeders for two weeks now. But even with Fox Sparrows right out my back door for a couple of weeks each year I still haven't had the best luck photographing them. This year I have been looking to change that.
 
Yesterday morning someone I know mentioned having good luck photographing them and that encouraged me to head out to the forest in the afternoon and again this morning. I crept through the forest, past hundreds of Dark-eyed Juncos, a tame Hairy Woodpecker that was coming to outstretched hands for peanuts, and along the way managed to get my first decent shots of a Fox Sparrow. This photo and the following photo (click next) were my best.
 
These two photos literally came at the last moment, as I was on my way out of the forest and not to return again until next week! This individual, for some reason, flew in to perch on a log beside me and remained there as I raised my camera and took a couple of photos. Almost all of the other Fox Sparrows I encountered, as usual, flew off before I could get anywhere near them, even with the slowest cat-like approach!