I will not soon forget this close encounter. I heard its call note a few times and at first missed it because it was closer than I expected. This shot is only slightly cropped, and not even at full zoom. A few seconds later there was some kind of disturbance. A White-throated Sparrow made an alarm chip, this towhee's feathers slimmed down, and it along with the other nearby birds dove down into cover and went silent.