[birding] E.E. Wilson: Violet-greens & White-crowned Sparrows

[Joel Geier]

Hi folks,

Another long walk around E.E. Wilson today turned up not much new. About
four VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS were over the Angling Pond but I didn't see
any Tree Swallows today.

I was hoping for a Say's Phoebe around headquarters since there have
been numerous reports around the valley in the last few days, but no
such luck. I also came up dry on my Nth search for a Short-eared Owl in
the sparrow patch in the north end, since finding a suggestive pellet
during the Henslow's search.

The most surprising birds for me were a flock of very bright WHITE-
CROWNED SPARROWS, with very white lores, in the latter location. I can't
remember if that's sufficient to call them Gambel's but I'm sure Hendrik
can help us out on that. I hadn't seen White-crowned Sparrows in any of
my walks in the last couple of weeks. In general they seem to be vastly
outnumbered by Golden-crowned Sparrows (and even outnumbered by White-
throated Sparrows) on the wildlife area during winter. So perhaps these
are spring migrants. They stuck together as a flock and did not act
territorial, so not breeding birds yet.

I still haven't seen a goldfinch of either local species, since early
January. One flock of a dozen PURPLE FINCHES was the largest finch flock
that I've seen on the wildlife area in weeks.

Happy birding,
Joel

--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis