Kind of a late report of an "early" White-crowned Sparrow, specifically last
Sunday at my place in far-out NW Portland, about 800' elevation.
It is also a "record" here in our 15th year of observation, beating the prior
earliest arrival by a single day.
For stat fans out there, the 15-year average FOS date here is April 2. Prior
to 2014 there were only two March FOS arrivals, in 2004 and 2007. The last
three years have been 3/26, 3/28, and 3/21, so the trend seems to be earlier
despite the rather nasty weather recently.
Also, today a Slate-colored Junco was mixing with the Oregon regulars outside
my office near Montgomery Park. Not especially rare, but I noted a posting of
one down in Cottage Grove yesterday on OBOL.
Martin Jaqua
