[birding] More on E.E. Wilson longspurs

[Joel Geier]

Hello folks,

Below is more of a description of the Chestnut-collared Longspurs based on 
my field notes, plus tallies from the rest of the walk.

A bit more comment on the habitat: This is supposed to be a wet prairie 
restoration but the European bentgrasses have given E.E. Wilson staff
headaches. Still, it has something of a bunchgrass structure, though rather 
densed and with very few forbs. I thought it should have been burned again 
this summer/fall but only the adjoining upland prairie (Roemer's fescue 
etc.) to the south was burned. 

The latter area might be another place to look. If starting there, the 
entrance off of Frontage Rd. might be an easier place to start.

Happy birding,
Joel

This report was mailed for Joel Geier by http://birdnotes.net

Date: December 7, 2009
Location: E. E. Wilson Wildlife Area, Benton County, Oregon

Low temperature: 22 degrees fahrenheit High temperature: 30 degrees fahrenheit
Wind direction: NW
Prevailing wind speed: 6-11 km/h gusting to: 12-19 km/h
Percentage of sky covered by clouds: 0%
Precipitation: none

Mid-day walk around north part of wildlife area plus prairie
restoration area south of Camp Adair Rd. Checked woods by Boy Scout
encampment site for Barred Owl photographed on 3 Dec by Bill
Proebsting, but not relocated.

Birds seen (in taxonomic order):

Great Blue Heron                    1
Red-tailed Hawk                     3
Killdeer                           30
Common Snipe                        4
Mourning Dove                       1
Red-breasted Sapsucker              1
Downy Woodpecker                    1
Northern Flicker                   10
Steller's Jay
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Bushtit
Bewick's Wren
Marsh Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin                     80
European Starling                  20
Cedar Waxwing                       4
Yellow-rumped Warbler               2
Spotted Towhee                     20
Savannah Sparrow                    4
Fox Sparrow                        10
Song Sparrow                       30
Lincoln's Sparrow                   8
White-throated Sparrow              3 [1] 
White-crowned Sparrow               5
Golden-crowned Sparrow             40
Dark-eyed Junco                    30
Chestnut-collared Longspur          2 [2] 
Purple Finch
House Finch
American Goldfinch

Footnotes:

[1]  Seen as one group with mixed Golden-/White-crowned flock, in NE
     corner area where a flock often winters.
[2]  Flushed one at a time from west end of the berm for the upper
     wetland in the BPA prairie restoration (Laguna del Ray), where a
     little stream drains out of the NW corner of the wetland. The
     birds flushed one at a time out into the grassy area to the
     northwest of this point (a planting of western mannagrass,
     tufted hairgrass and blue wildrye, with lots of European
     hairgrass), about knee-high.
     
     The first bird provided only a fleeting look, but long wings and
     tail and manner of flight, combined with behavior of flushing
     toward open part of the habitat, and impression of ochre, brown,
     and chestnut pattern on back with a hint of chestnut at nape
     immediately made me think of a longspur. Similar in size to song
     sparrow but very different behavior and jizz.
     
     When the second bird flushed (a few seconds behind the first) I
     focused immediately on the tail and could see the
     triangular-shaped dark center bordered by white, extending about
     halfway up the tail where the center turned to streaked
     tan/brown. Back patterned similar to Song Sparrow but paler with
     buffy/ochre & brown streaking and flecks of chestnut giving a
     more colorful look.
     
     Both birds gave thin buzzy "tsee-lip" calls as they flew. The
     birds landed in a relatively open patch of grass after flights
     of <50 yards into the wind, and seemed to run on the ground
     after they landed. Impression of second bird in flight was of
     longish wings for a sparrow, more laconic, strong wingbeats,
     generally reminiscent of longspurs seen elsewhere.
     
     Other species considered included Savannah Sparrow (shape, style
     of flight wrong), Vesper Sparrow (tail pattern & wing length).
     Other longspurs eliminated based mainly on tail pattern,
     secondarily hint of chestnut on nape of first bird and habitat
     association (relatively dense grass for other longspur species
     to use). Not a lark or pipit based on shape & manner of flight,
     calls.

Total number of species seen: 34