Hi all,
Below is a message that I sent to the Umpqua Birds list. GRASSHOPPER
SPARROWS seem to be back in force and on territory on grasslands in the
Umpqua Valley's ranching country. Also of interest for sparrow fans,
there seems to still be a large wave of migrant SAVANNAH SPARROWS coming
through.
I have to applaud the Oregon Birding Association for choosing to hold
this year's annual meeting in this region, in Sutherlin June 5th - 7th.
This is a great opportunity to experience some of western Oregon's best
examples of large-scale grassland bird habitat.
Happy birding,
Joel
-------- Forwarded Message --------
From: Joel Geier <joel.geier@xxxxxxxx>
To: UmpquaBirds <umpquabirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Grasshopper Sparrows and other cool grassland birds north of
Oakland
Date: Sat, 02 May 2015 16:10:43 -0700
Hi all,
Bob Altman and I visited the Umpqua region this morning to survey for
VESPER SPARROWS on a couple of private ranches where Bob had worked out
access for an American Bird Conservancy study. We did find good numbers
of Vesper Sparrows (the Umpqua Valley seems to be their main stronghold
in western Oregon) on one property but none on the other.
We also ran across at least 20 GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS. Unfortunately none
of these were really close to the public roads. At one point one flew
out to within about 50 yards of Goodrich Hwy when I walked through its
territory, but it didn't sing while it was out there. Its favorite
singing perch was about 100 yards from the road, which is awfully far
out for anyone to have a good chance of hearing it from the road.
BUT ... there are probably a bunch more Grasshopper Sparrows in the
area, and some of them can probably be found either on public land or
from public roads.
In previous years Bob found a total of about 30 Grasshopper Sparrows on
another private ranch in this area. For at least the last couple of
years, there have also been a few in Mildred Kanipe County Park (around
the equestrian facility on the NW side of Elkhead Rd). I've also found a
few along the Sutherlin-Umpqua Rd. west of Sutherlin (right by the
"town" of Umpqua, and in a couple of spots between there and the
Stephens site), and along Driver Valley Rd. NE of Sutherlin (near the
top end of Driver Valley).
The tricky thing about Grasshopper Sparrows is that their song is easy
to confuse with Savannah Sparrows. If you don't have a great look,
Savannah Sparrows can sometimes look a bit like Grasshopper Sparrows.
Matt Hunter was kind enough to post a few photos that I took this
morning, at this link:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/matthewghunter/sets/72157649986690864/
Two of them show a Grasshopper Sparrow sitting in the same blackberry
clump as a Savannah Sparrow. The Grasshopper Sparrow is the guy singing,
while the Savannah Sparrow is trying to act dignified.
A couple of things you can notice are that the Grasshopper Sparrow is a
smaller bird. It also has a more flattened head compared with the
Savannah Sparrow's more crested look, and more of a "blank" face
compared with the Savannah Sparrow's more strongly patterned face (with
a splash of bright yellow above the eye).
The other two photos show a different Grasshopper Sparrow (on a dead
blackberry cane, with his mouth shut), and then another view of the
first singing bird.
There were a LOT of SAVANNAH SPARROWS out there this morning. We figured
that most of them were migrants, since practically none of them were
singing, and they came in a range of sizes. Some of the really big ones
are probably headed for Alaska. There were also some relatively pale,
drab Savannah Sparrows with almost no yellow on the face, headed
who-knows-where.
Some other fun birds out in the grasslands included many WESTERN
KINGBIRDS (really a treat to see so many) and WESTERN MEADOWLARKS, a few
LAZULI BUNTINGS, quite a few noisy BULLOCK'S ORIOLES in the scattered
oaks, still a couple of AMERICAN PIPIT flocks, plus a few HOUSE WRENS,
WESTERN BLUEBIRDS, LESSER GOLDFINCHES, BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS, a NORTHERN
HARRIER, and one YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT using a narrow but very dense
riparian strip. Around the edges I heard a couple of CHIPPING SPARROWS
and a BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER.
I *thought* I spotted an Olive-sided Flycatcher along one wooded edge
(just going by general shape and impression), but it disappeared before
I could get over there for a closer look.
Happy birding,
Joel
--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis
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