[birding] Chestnut-collared Longspurs still present at EEW

[Joel Geier]

Hi folks,

Just now (around 12:45 to 1:30 PM) I walked across the road to E.E.
Wilson Wildlife Area to see if I could relocate the longspurs that I
reported two days ago. After about 15-20 minutes of searching the north
part of the prairie restoration without much success, I was working my
way back toward the original location and flushed a bird consistent with
the one I saw on Monday (more like the second bird than the first).

Again I noted a distinct dark triangular wedge running about halfway up
the tail, bordered by white, and longspur-like flight (I should mention
that I've watched a lot of Lapland Longspurs in Minnesota & the Dakotas,
but not other longspur species).

I followed up and had the bird flush three more times, circling
counter-clockwise around the north part of the field. Each time it made
flights of 30-50 yards before dropping down. It consistently headed
toward more open areas of the field, and the places where it dropped
down were in or at the edge of areas where the hairgrass is thinner, so
more of a low bunchgrass structure. 

At this point I figured I'd harassed the poor bird enough and it didn't
seem like I was getting any better looks, just more of the same. So I
decided to head back down to the frozen wetland to check out a shorebird
that had flown in (turned out to be a WILSON'S SNIPE). 

On my way I flushed a second bird (at least 50 yards from the first)
that had the same tail pattern but was more colorful on the back,
flashing a bit of rufous at the neck as it made about a 50-yard flight
toward the south. As it landed, it turned sideways in the air, which I
thought was sort of interesting behavior. This also gave me a nice look
at the tail proportions. This bird gave a clear two-syllable flight call
similar to what I remembered from Monday, just now, I was able to
compare with the Chestnut-collared Longspur calls on my Peterson Western
Bird Songs CD (had to get the CD player working first). It sounded like
the second ("kittle") call on that track.

So, the birds have stayed around. I'm not putting this on the statewide
list-serv because the amount of open habitat is limited. If we got 10-15
birders out there all at once, they could probably chase these birds
entirely out of the area. There have been 15-20 past records for this
species in Oregon, but most were either on private land with restricted
access, or in more open situations where the birds were easily seen
(i.e. without having to flush them). That said, I'd be happy if a few
more local birders managed to get a look.

Most of the times when the birds flushed, I was standing still (I had
Heidi along with me but she was sniffing in the grass for voles, not
romping around as much as Monday). So "walk, stop, look, then take a few
steps and stop again" seems to work better than steady tromping.

I'd watch out for Savannah Sparrows which could be out there too, though
I didn't encounter any just now. Usually they seem to hang out closer to
the brushy edges of this field, and they tend to make shorter flights
and/or flush to perch in the blackberries around the edges. A bunch of
Yellow-rumped Warblers are flying back and forth but there's not a whole
lot else out there to worry about.

Happy birding,
Joel

--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis