[birding] A good sparrow patch

[Joel Geier]

Hi folks,

After tromping through all of the units of Luckiamute State Natural Area
today as part of the Airlie-Albany CBC, and after checking out most
corners of E.E. Wilson earlier in the winter, my vote for best sparrow
patch goes to the North Luckiamute Cooperative Management Area along
Buena Vista Rd. at the north end of Luckiamute SNA.

Sorry to say, most of the sparrows aren't using the nice native tufted
hairgrass planting in the front part (owned by ODFW), though some
SAVANNAH SPARROWS seemed to like it.

Most of the sparrows are in the non-native dominated weed patch in the
back section. My tallies from a bit over an hour in there today:

SPOTTED TOWHEE         20 (one female had minimal spotting but still
                           this species I think)
SONG SPARROW           60
LINCOLN'S SPARROW      25
SWAMP SPARROW           1
SOOTY FOX SPARROW      16
GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW 25
WHITE-THROATED SPARROW  9
OREGON JUNCO           25

About the last, at one point I could see six White-throated Sparrows
sitting up in a row, and could hear two others nearby to make eight in
one flock. The ninth was out by the parking area, which also had a
female SLATE-COLORED JUNCO. I saw several groups of up to five
White-throated Sparrows not far from where I encountered the main flock,
but I'm assuming that was the same bunch just moving around.

My hunch is that I only saw perhaps half of the sparrows that are out
there. Considering that those included Swamp & multiple White-throated
Sparrows, along with the Slate-colored Junco, there may well be other
"eastern" sparrows in this patch, similar to a few years ago when
Harris's, Red Fox, and Swamp Sparrows were found in the same area (not
to mention a Sedge Wren -- though this year's habitat looks awfully
dense for that species).

The weeds are very thick, tall and wet without any real paths, so if you
don't like getting soaked you might want to wear hip waders to go in
there. The sparrows are feeding in the weeds but flush to the "tree
islands" when pished.

An incessantly calling immature RED-SHOULDERED HAWK was in the front
part of the area, and stayed put while I walked right past it.

Other parts of this public-lands complex had typically good numbers of
sparrows, but nothing spectacular. A BLACK PHOEBE around the buildings
in the old Oregon Botanicals site (north side of vanderpool Tract) was
probably the most notable.

Happy birding,
Joel

--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis