[obol] Re: Spring Arrival Dates: Long and likely annoying for some
- From: David Irons <llsdirons@xxxxxxx>
- To: Brandon Green <brandon.green18@xxxxxxxxx>, OBOL Oregon Birders Online <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2014 03:57:28 +0000
Hi Brandon,
Rather than spinning our wheels and trifling over language and what we "agree
to disagree" about, I encourage those who think my insides are eye deep in
fecal matter to grab a camera and head out into the field in an effort to
document some April Swainson's Thrushes. I've been looking for 40 years and I'm
still looking for my first one. They say even a blind squirrel finds a nut
every now and again.
Every time I go birding, I try to put what I think I know to the test.
Endeavoring to disprove what is known seems to be a highly successful strategy
for learning something new. About a year or so ago I realized that Fox Sparrow
bills change color in the spring, something that I'd never read about in any
field guide. After comparing a bunch of spring photos from various dates, it
seemed pretty apparent taht Sooty Fox Sparrows lose the yellow on their bills
sometime between mid-March and when they arrive on the breeding grounds to the
north of us. More exploration revealed that this seems to happen with all of
the various Fox Sparrow subspecies groups. Even after writing an article on
this topic, I continue to test and retest my conclusions. Every time I see a
Fox Sparrow, and in particular a April-May Sooty Fox Sparrow (this subspecies
group doesn't breed in Oregon). Today, while fruitlessly searching for the Mt.
Tabor Rusting Bunting, we saw at least three Sooty Fox Sparrows on Mt. Tabor. I
was able photograph one of them. It had no apparent yellow on the bill and I
could not see yellow on the bills of the two that I did not photograph.
Efforts to disprove my conclusions about Swainson's Thrush migration timing
have met with failure on my part. Perhaps I'm not very observant, or maybe I
need some remedial training on how to tell a Swainson's Thrush from a Hermit
Thrush. We saw six Catharus thrushes today, examined each carefully, and
concluded that all of them were Hermits. I'd love to have some help in this
effort, but I do have one stipulation... please send me the photos.
In case anyone is wondering, this is all in good fun as far as I'm concerned.
Dave Irons
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2014 05:22:13 -0700
Subject: Re: Spring Arrival Dates: Long and likely annoying for some
From: brandon.green18@xxxxxxxxx
To: llsdirons@xxxxxxx
CC: obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Dave,
Let's go back and look at what I originally said: "It's likely that at least a
few have crossed the border by now [April 24th]. Still seems early for
Northwest Oregon, but maybe not unprecedented." I was referring to a few
individual outliers that have *just recently* crossed the border into Oregon.
I was not implying that a significant number of Swainson's Thrushes have been
hanging out in the Willamette Valley since the middle of the month.
If you find the above to be controversial, we'll have to agree to disagree.
-Brandon
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