[birding] E.E. Wilson Chipping Sparrow, intergrade flicker, Coffin Butte Thayer's Gull etc.

[Joel Geier]

Hi folks,

This morning after crossing paths with Gail Andrews at Sapsucker Central
Station, I continued east along Camp Adair Rd. to look for the reported
Clay-colored & Chipping Sparrows. It was sunny but breezy, so sparrows
were very flighty and mostly sticking to the lee side of vegetation.

A WHITE-THROATED SPARROW was chipping from his usual station just east
of the manager's residence, and a few juncos were out in the
sunflower/birdseed plantings on the north side of the road (behind the
teasel that's by the manager's black mailbox), sometimes flying to the
south side of the road, but I couldn't see any Spizella sp. sparrows.

Then on the north side of the gamebird display pens, in the
"naturescaping exhibit" by the old incubator building, I spotted a
Spizella sp. sparrow up in the trees that looked good for CHIPPING
SPARROW, in adult winter plumage. Grayish rump, malar stripe indistinct,
brown ear coverts only faintly outlined by the moustachial stripe.
Breast was clear gray rather than buffy.

The lack of buffy tones on the breast makes me think that this is a
different sparrow than Paula Vanderheul saw, so maybe she saw the
Clay-colored Sparrow that was later reported by Russ Namitz, along with
a Chipping Sparrow. 

This guy today didn't have any Spizella buddies close at hand, just
juncos, but like I mentioned, all of the sparrows were flighty, and on
top of that an ODFW staffer came running through the area to jump into a
truck and get to work. I lost track of the flock but I think they went
out into the birdseed plantings. This patch has remarkable sparrow
diversity right now -- even some WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS which I usually
have a harder time finding at E.E. Wilson than White-throated Sparrows,
strange as that may sound.

Continuing counterclockwise around the HQ area, I saw an apparent
intergrade male YELLOW x RED-SHAFTED FLICKER which had very yellow wing
linings, but red malar stripe and no red on the nape. This probably
explains the possible Yellow-shafted Flicker that I reported earlier. If
anyone is interested, it's hanging around the NW corner of the pond on
the W side of HQ.

The upper remedial pond at Coffin Butte Landfill (Toketie Marsh) had a
GLAUCOUS-WINGED, a 4th year THAYER'S, and two HERRING GULLS that stayed
put for good views. The Thayer's had a noticeably more rounded head &
more slender bill than the Herring Gulls, was slightly smaller darker
eyes and generally looked a little cuter, so far as gulls ever look
cute. It had lots of grungy streaking on the head & neck, and when it
stretched out its wings and eventually flew, it had limited black in the
outer primaries. The gulls then proceeded to wheel & soar over the
landfill where there might have been a few more large gulls.

Farther on there were a half-dozen WESTERN BLUEBIRDS. I tried but
couldn't succeed in making any of the females into Mountain Bluebirds.

Oh, on the outbound walk I finally heard, then saw the first PINE
SISKINS that I've found locally in over a year, about 10 foraging and
chattering in the ash trees south of the skeet range. I looked closely
in hopes of a few redpolls, since they seemed to be recent arrivals, but
no such luck.

Happy birding,
Joel

--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis