[birding] Adair birds, Fox Sparrow revisited

[Joel Geier]

Hi folks,

Today Heidi & I walked to Adair Village

Adair Village had at least one ACORN WOODPECKER, staying out of the way
of the disc golfers in the park, along with several WHITE-BREASTED
NUTHATCHES. A noisy flock of 30+ PINE SISKINS was about a block north of
Santiam Christian School. The sewage pond had 35 LESSER SCAUP and 6
BUFFLEHEADS but no Greater Scaup or other ducks.

Along the way we detoured through south part of E.E. Wilson, where I
tried to check back on the suspected SLATE-COLORED(?) FOX SPARROW at the
grass-seed screenings piles (reached by walking straight east on the
road that starts from the Frontage Road entrance, across the water and
then up a hill). 

I didn't get a decent look today, just a quick look at one bird which
did seem to be much more rufous on the tail than I usually see on our
wintering Sooty Fox Sparrows. A short time later, from the same patch
that it disappeared into, I heard a Fox Sparrow singing from low down in
the blackberries. It went on for quite a while and I thought it sounded
a little different from Sooties ... though I always forget what Sooties
sound like from one year to the next, so wouldn't put too much stock in
that!

However when I got home and looked in Rising & Beadle's guide to the
Sparrows of the United States & Canada, I see that singing from a low
perch is supposed to be more characteristic of Slate-colored than Sooty
Fox Sparrow. 

So, an interesting bird but sort of frustrating to identify for
certain ... seems like we've had a lot of those around E.E. Wilson this
year!

Happy birding,
Joel

--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis