Hi all, Today I went searching for early Swainson's Thrushes in Luckiamute State Natural Area's north unit (Luckiamute Landing), as this is usually the best place in the neighborhood place to find them by the dozen, soon after the first reports. I didn't find any early Swainson's Thrushes but I was surprised by a very late bird: a SWAMP SPARROW that was hanging out with a LINCOLN'S SPARROW about 80 yards from the trailhead. I've sometimes found Lincoln's Sparrows locally into the second week of May, but my previous late date for Swamp Sparrow was March 31st, about 10 years ago. Other notable birds included a very vocal HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER and a NASHVILLE WARBLER that was associating with a flock that included at least two "gray-headed" ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS, apparently from one of the Rocky Mountain or eastern/boreal subspecies, rather than the usual Pacific Northwest variety. The full list is copied below. Happy birding, Joel This report was mailed for Joel Geier by http://birdnotes.net Date: April 25, 2014 Location: Luckiamute Landing Greenway, Polk County, Oregon Low temperature: 45 degrees fahrenheit High temperature: 55 degrees fahrenheit Wind direction: Variable Prevailing wind speed: < 1 km/h gusting to: 6-11 km/h Percentage of sky covered by clouds: 80% Precipitation: none 10:00 to 11:30 AM. Spent about 2/3 of the time on a quick hike to the gallery forest area where I did a slow stroll through the first 1/4 mile of the trail through the forest, listening for Swainson's Thrushes in particular (none detected), then back along the same route. Spent the last half hour patrolling for weeds in the prairie restoration area near the trailhead. Weather was ideal for songbird activity, clearing after early morning showers, still mostly overcast but warming with sun peeking out occasionally. Birds seen (in taxonomic order): Canada Goose Turkey Vulture 3 Osprey 1 American Kestrel 1 Greater Yellowlegs 3 [1] Band-tailed Pigeon 1 [2] Rufous Hummingbird 2 Red-breasted Sapsucker 2 [3] Downy Woodpecker 2 Hairy Woodpecker 1 Northern Flicker 3 Hammond's Flycatcher 1 [4] Steller's Jay 6 Western Scrub-Jay 1 Common Raven 2 Black-capped Chickadee 15 Red-breasted Nuthatch 1 Brown Creeper 3 Bewick's Wren 5 American Robin 12 Orange-crowned Warbler 7 [5] Nashville Warbler 1 Common Yellowthroat 4 Spotted Towhee 9 Savannah Sparrow 1 [6] Song Sparrow 15 Lincoln's Sparrow 1 Swamp Sparrow 1 [7] White-crowned Sparrow 12 [8] Golden-crowned Sparrow 10 Dark-eyed Junco 3 Brewer's Blackbird 2 [9] Brown-headed Cowbird 6 American Goldfinch 2 Footnotes: [1] GRYE: Flew in one by one to wetland, calling as they arrived. [2] BTPI: Very distant, calling from NW side of Luckiamute River. [3] RBSA: Drumming sapsuckers presumed to be this species. [4] HAFL: Calling persistently while feeding from perches in hazel thicket in forest opening. [5] OCWA: Total includes 2 gray-headed birds (ssp. orestera or celata), in the same feeding flock as the Nashville Warbler. [6] SAVS: Singing in grass field. [7] SWSP: In shrub plantings along road about 80 yards north of trailhead parking lot, associating with Lincoln's Sparrow. [8] WCSP: Mostly territorial birds heard singing, but two associating with migrant Golden-crowned flock. [9] BRBL: Pair on wire. Total number of species seen: 34 OBOL archives: www.freelists.org/archive/obol Manage your account or unsubscribe: //www.freelists.org/list/obol Contact moderators: obol-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx