[birding] Belts Rd. Sparrows (VESPER and GRASSHOPPER) etc.

[David Irons]

Greetings All,

This morning Shawneen Finnegan and I spent
 about three hours birding the
 Belts Rd. grassland and surrounding 
areas in southwest Linn Co. (s. of 
Brownsville). Randy Campbell 
showed up his bike from Peoria. The three 
of us were treated to 
great views of several Vesper (at least 6 birds) 
and Grasshopper 
Sparrows (two territorial males close to the road). Both
 species 
were hanging out on the roadside fencelines. We also enjoyed 
great 
looks at Streaked Horned Larks (subspecies strigata) that 
were
 singing and feeding in two patches of bare ground on the south side

 of Belts and we had at least 6 more along the section of Bond Butte 
between
 Tub Run Rd. and Center School Rd. We also heard a Red-breasted 
Sapsucker
 and a Yellow-breasted Chat along Belts. We all went over to 
the 
section of Tub Run where an Ash-throated Flycatcher has summered the

 past couple years. No luck with that, but we did have another Chat.

On
 the way home, we checked out Bloomberg Rd. near Lane Community 
College.
 We stopped along the road listening for various passerines, we 
heard
 a calling Mountain Quail from high up on the hill to the north.

Dave
 Irons

Eugene, OR  		 	   		  


 		 	   		  
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