Dave,
This may be sage advice. :) Though, as a less experienced birder, and a
newcomer to OBOL, I often find these threads informative, if for no other
reason than they give me a perspective on the various approaches more
experienced birders employ to sort through the available information.
I was fortunate enough to arrive this morning when a group of birders
(Rachael, Hendrik, and some other nice folks whose names I didn't get) had
the Chestnut-collared Longspur, the Lapland Longspur, and the SB all in
their scopes. (Thank you Hendrik for letting me view through your scope!)
That was pretty impressive. It was terrific to be able to observe these
birds, but even better to listen to folks talking through field marks,
etc. In the field and on the list, I learn a lot from more skilled
birders. And when things get a bit arcane for my tastes, a la the 'out of
towner' Song Sparrow, I take what I am ready to learn, close my laptop, and
go birding.
To spring and birds!
Rebecca
On Fri, Mar 15, 2019 at 10:32 PM David Irons <llsdirons@xxxxxxx> wrote:
Can we stop chattering about possible Smith's Longspurs until something
resembling a Smith's Longspur actually shows up. The unnamed birds in the
photos taken by Ed McVicker are all Horned Larks. The longspur looks like a
Chestnut-collared, calls like a Chestnut-collared and has the tail pattern
of a Chestnut-collared...making it a Chestnut-collared Longspur. I feel for
some of the less experienced birders in this forum who might be trying to
sort the wheat from the considerable chaff surrounding the Blueberry Lane
longspur. There are plenty of photos of the this longspur, starting with
the very good ones taken by Rachel Friese. What can be seen in the photos
and all of the additional details provided by the many folks who have
actually seen the bird all point to the reported species. It's always
good to explore all possibilities and make sure nothing is being missed,
but we've wandered into the land of wishful thinking at this point. The
reported details and photos are more than sufficient to settle any debate
about this longspur. Finally, there is nothing odd or out of the ordinary
about the appearance of the Horned Larks in Ed's photos.
Dave Irons
Beaverton, OR
------------------------------
*From:* obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> on behalf
of Lars Norgren <larspernorgren@xxxxxxxxx>
*Sent:* Saturday, March 16, 2019 1:46 AM
*To:* utb33bb
*Cc:* obol
*Subject:* [obol] Re: Ed mcv's photos-Smith's Looking Longspur?!
Horned Larks, above all young ones, are capable of some serious grunge. As
l recall, the Yaquina Bay SJ Skylark was initially reported as HOLA.lpn
On Fri, Mar 15, 2019, 6:18 PM Steve Jaggers <sjjag@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Ed's three un named photos he said might be a Horned Lark looking Smithish.
I see much more Smith's Longspur in those photos than Horned Lark.
Ok the eye is weird, but the rest of the bird is tantalizingly interesting!
Steve Jaggers
