Hi all,
Today for a change of pace I took the dog over to the south (Benton
County) unit of Luckiamute State Natural Area, also known as the
Vanderpool Tract.
The highlight for me was finding a "SLATE-COLORED" FOX SPARROW,
distinguished from our normal wintering "Sooty" Fox Sparrows by a
distinctly gray head, nape and upper mantle, crisp reddish-brown
chevron-shaped markings on the belly and flanks, a rust-red tail, and a
pale patch in front of a very distinct white eye-ring, which gave it a
slightly "spectacled" look. Its bill was normal fox-sparrow-sized, and
size-wise it was similar to or just slightly smaller than our wintering
Sooties.
I'm not sure whether to place it with the subspecies altivagans that
nests in interior British Columbia and SW Alberta (what Sibley labels as
"Canadian Rocky Mountains" Slate-colored Fox Sparrow) or subspecies
schistacea (which nests in eastern Oregon and Washington). The fairly
distinct gray mantle seems to point more to the latter, but otherwise it
seemed closer to altivagans.
For folks who are trying to understand my enthusiasm about a Fox Sparrow
subspecies: I'm kind of into sparrows, like some other people are into
gulls or ducks or shorebirds. Each year I look at several hundred
different Fox Sparrows in our area, and nearly all of them turn out to
be "Sooties." I see at most one or two "Slate-colored" Fox Sparrows on
this side of the Cascades per year.
This one was hanging out with a big group of WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS, a
few LINCOLN'S and SONG SPARROWS, plus a few GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROWS and
SPOTTED TOWHEES. While I was pishing to try to get a better look at all
of these birds, a couple of WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS also came in. There
were also one or two regular Sooty Fox Sparrows in the vicinity, so it
was a pretty diverse group.
The location of this sparrow was along a brush-lined ditch that drains
into the wetland in the NW part of this unit of LSNA.
On my way back out I also heard, then got a brief look at a SWAMP
SPARROW in a patch of rose briers surrounded by reed canary-grass, just
below the line of big old oaks south of the trailhead parking area.
Other nice birds included a WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH in the oaks, a small
flock of LESSER GOLDFINCHES working on the patch of weeds right
alongside the road, and flocks of KILLDEER and AMERICAN PIPITS feeding
between the leftover fragments of pumpkins in the field on the other
side of Buena Vista Road.
For directions to LSNA's south and north units, see Site L10 of the
Luckiamute Loop of the Willamette valley Birding Trail.
Happy birding,
Joel
--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis
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