[Umpqua Birds] Swamp Sparrows, Ford's Pond

From: Matthew G Hunter <matthewghunter@xxxxxxxxx>
To: umpquabirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 17:09:54 -0700
Hi Folks,
  This morning Bob and Jeannie Pollock and I took a walk around Ford's
Pond. At one point we poked our head through an opening in the blackberries
to look into the "marshy" area in the pond bed for an "early" SWAMP
SPARROW. Well, it is often not this easy, but one popped up in a few
seconds and landed for a photo. There were at least two birds at the spot.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/matthewghunter/15593255651/
Swamp Sparrows look somewhat like a Lincoln's Sparrow, but don't have the
sharp streaking on the breast. Swamp Sparrows also usually have more red on
the wings and have red on the rump that the Lincoln's don't have. You can
barely see that in this photo:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/matthewghunter/15593255441/
Their black phoebe like call is very helpful to locate them.

While Swamp Sparrows can be found elsewhere, this location has been pretty
reliable in the past. The spot is approximately at these Lat/Long
coordinates that you can put into google maps or earth if you like:
(43.390690, -123.365770). Verbal description: If you walk down the dike
between the south pond and the main pond, the south pond has a narrow arm
at first (east end). Exactly halfway out this narrow arm there is a "bump"
or wide area that protrudes out a bit into the main pond, and a mowed path
detours out there too. Walk out there and find a spot (deer trail, also
marked by blue flagging on wooden stake) where you can look into the
marshy/willowy area of the main pond. Make some spishy noises and look at
what comes up.

There were many other species out there today. Other highlights included:
*A mink running along the shore of the south pond, being monitored closely
by nearby ducks and egrets
*Two adult Bald Eagles flying around
*Two Merlin chasing each other and other little birds
*One Peregrine Falcon
*One Orange-crowned Warbler, kind of late
*Five Pectoral Sandpipers, normal, but fun to see
*Lots of Long-billed Dowitchers, Gr. Yellowlegs, Dunlin, Least Sandpipers..
*Two Western Grebes
*One California Gull

Complete list of 71 species here:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S20300708

Matt Hunter
[Umpqua Birds] Swamp Sparrows, Ford's Pond

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