[birding] no Chestnut-collared Longspurs

[rich armstrong]

there were 5 of us walking the entire field from about 140-3 this afternoon 
and we found no longspurs. we did flush a few birds, but they were sparrows 
(maybe savannah's or lincoln's?). there were yellow-rumps ice skating on the 
pond which was interesting.
Rich Armstrong
541-753-1978
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joel Geier" <joel.geier at peak.org>
To: "MidValley Birds" <list at midvalleybirding.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 09, 2009 2:21 PM
Subject: [birding] Chestnut-collared Longspurs still present at EEW


> 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
>
>
>
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