FreeLists / birdky / [birdky] Tundra Birds and others

[David Roemer <dlroemer@xxxxxxxxx>]

A phenomenal number of Lapland Longspurs and Horned
Larks was present in the McElroy Lake area of Warren
County this morning.  The number of longspurs had
dwindled in the past few days and larks had not been
present in large numbers yet this fall.  This morning
was a different story.  The dry lake bed was swirling
with clouds of birds, as was a plowed field across Hwy
884.  A female/juvenile Merlin had the birds up and
moving almost constantly which helped me assess their
numbers.  

Although total accuracy was impossible, I spent about
four hours looking through and attempting to count the
birds and came up with a very conservative 1100
Lapland Longpurs and 800-1000 Horned Larks, and at
least one Snow Bunting.  Most of these were present in
several flocks containing 300-500 birds each, with
some sizable pure flocks of longspurs.  I was able to
spend much time looking through many of them at close
range on the ground while feeding.  The Snow Bunting
was observed at eye level as it passed with a flock of
mostly longspurs.  I believe I heard a bunting on
another occassion, but was unable to locate it amidst
the cloud of several hundred birds overhead.  

I believe I may have witnessed the actual passage of
these birds through the area and the continuance of
their journey.  For the first couple of hours that I
watched them, the flocks would take to the air, circle
a few times, and then land to continue feeding. 
Beginning about mid-morning, flocks of birds began
moving across the fields in a southerly direction
until out of sight over the horizon.  The bounding
flocks of hundreds of birds looked like huge clouds of
wind-blown leaves being scattered across the bare
ground for as far as one could see.  By noon, I could
only find a couple of hundred birds.  It will be
interesting to see if the birds actually departed or
were lounging in another, safer area.

Having had the pleasure of spending many hours in the
close proximity to so many Lapland Longspurs has given
me the opportunity to enjoy and study their
vocalizations.  I have found that they regularly give
at least five different calls.  The rattle and tew
calls are given most frequently.  The rattle is
remarkably consistent in quality.  The tew is
sometimes lengthened to a two syllable "tewdle".  When
a large number of birds is in flight, especially
circling low before landing, I often hear a low,
husky, mewing call.  I get the impression that this is
an aggression call.  It is often a single syllable,
but is sometimes given in rapid succession.  Another
call that I sometimes hear is a coarse finch-like
call.  I hear this call less frequently than the
others.

Other birds of note in the area included a single
Least Sandpiper at a small pool, and a Dunlin at
Meng's Pond on Meng Road.  Also present at Meng's Pond
were Gadwall, Shoveler, and Green-winged Teal.  

An afternoon at Barren Reservoir resulted in few birds
being seen, but the annual early winter roost of
Turkey Vultures has grown to over 600.  

A trip to Fulton County on 1 December yielded a few
birds of interest including a dark-morph Harlan's
Hawk.  At least 3 light-morph calurus Red-tails and a
Krider's intergrade were present.  Waterfowl highlight
was a flock of about 275 Greater White-fronted Geese
at Lake 9.  Passerines of interest were single Vesper
and American Tree Sparrows.  

Dave









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