Savage Yardbirding

Looked out the bedroom window this morning with my 5x pocket scope and in amongst the Song and American Tree Sparrows was a bird who stood out as being shorter tailed and more contrastingly marked on the face, but in a flash it was gone when a SOSP attacked! Luck was with me though and I was able to confirm with the Big Bins (I like to call them Knockers) that it was a Savannah (savage) Sparrow and a new yard lifer! I also nabbed this digiscope and some digi-noc'd shots for everyone. Really a pretty good bird in the winter around here and not a nester here. If you look at Sibley's Range maps (not known for being all that accurate, but still) you'll see it shouldn't be here. But, there are usually a few around in the winter here in Ohio, the Slagermeister and I had a bunch down in southern OH a week ago. I went for a xC ski trip today and it was beautiful. In the next post I will post pics from the yard for you Ca-put, so you can read it and weep. Other highlights today were a flock of Gulls flying over with an obvious HEGU (No. 43) with the Ringers, Yellow-rumped Warbler(!), Carolina Wren, White-throated Sparrow, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks, and Eastern Bluebirds down by the creek. I was getting bummed too since I thought I'd never get a new yard bird, then bam, there it is, my shiny new "yard lifer". Good stuff with due warning. Good luck guys.