[obol] Fwd: Finley north prairie area: W. phalarope, copulating Horned Larks, no Grasshopper Sparrows?

From: Joel Geier <joel.geier@xxxxxxxx>
To: Oregon Birders OnLine <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 03 Jun 2014 11:17:08 -0700

Hi all,

I posted this to the mid-valley list but possibly some of these
observations are of interest for OBOL readers as well.

"Finley" here refers to Finley NWR in Benton Co., Oregon. Not to
be confused with "Finley (Benton Co. WA)" as mentioned by Lars
Norgren, which threw me for a loop when I first read it,
misinterpreting WA as an acronym for "Wildlife Area."

My confusion may have been helped along by the fact that Lars was recently
spotted at the same part of Finley NWR (Benton Co., OR) where I spent this
morning:
http://www.gazettetimes.com/finley-at-fifty-jpg/image_115270f2-d218-11e3-8d3f-0019bb2963f4.html
But I digress ...

This morning a female WILSON'S PHALAROPE was foraging around the edges
of a large but shrinking pond/puddle in the east part of the Finley Rd.
Conservation Wetland.

The pond is viewable from Finley Refuge Rd. about 100 yards east of the
gated driveway that leads into this private conservation easement.

In the vegetation-free margin around the drying puddle, a pair of
STREAKED HORNED LARKS copulated quickly and then the male went back to
singing, while the female headed off presumably toward a nest.

I had a little free time after finishing my surveys, so I wandered out
into the North Prairie to check if there are any GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS
there this year. I made a roughly 1.5-mile walking loop through the
area, stopping to listen at intervals, but did not detect any
Grasshopper Sparrows. Has anyone seen/heard one out there this year,
since the unusually early one that Hendrik detected back in April?

There are a lot of SAVANNAH SPARROWS, a few WESTERN MEADOWLARKS, and a
pair of WESTERN KINGBIRDS out in that area. The kingbirds were right
next to the viewing platform when I got there, but they seemed to range
over an area that extended at least 1/4 mile to the south.

Happy birding,
Joel

--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis

[obol] Fwd: Finley north prairie area: W. phalarope, copulating Horned Larks, no Grasshopper Sparrows?

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