Both yesterday in the Soap Creek Valley (north of Corvallis) and today out near
Bald Hill (west side of Corvallis), I encountered GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROWS out
in the middle of pastures with scattered small shrubs. As usual for
early-arriving fall migrants, all of them were immature (first-fall plumage)
birds.
Both sites still have a few lingering CHIPPING SPARROWS. The Soap Creek site
yesterday had a flock of at least 15, very restless as flighty, as typical for
the time of year when nearly all of them migrate south.
Both sites still have flocks of up to 10 VESPER SPARROWS which will likely be
migrating out any day now (September 23rd has been a typical last date in
recent years).
In with a Vesper flock near Bald Hill today I also saw what I'm pretty sure was
a first-fall BREWER'S SPARROW. Telling these apart from juvenile Chipping
Sparrows can be tricky, but I haven't seen any Chipping Sparrows in a stage
that could cause confusion on these sites, for close to a month. Unfortunately
the bird is in a location not accessible without permission.
Numbers of WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS seem to be swelling at both sites, likely
reflecting recent arrivals of wintering birds. Song Sparrows, Spotted Towhees
and Dark-eyed Juncos round out the sparrow list. I haven't detected any Fox
Sparrows yet this fall.
--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis
