Greetings All,
Yesterday I and several others were sent some photos of a beautiful Gray-headed
Junco that is currently being seen at a feeder in Trout Lake (Klickitat Co.)
Washington. This is a highly distinctive subspecies of Dark-eyed Junco that
inhabits the southern Rocky Mountains and other ranges on the edges of the
Great Basin. The purpose of this post is not to inspire a bunch of folks to
chase it. I don't know the exact location or have permission from the
homeowners to share it if I did. They circulated the photos to get a
confirmation on their identification. The goal here to raise awareness to the
possibility of this junco form straying this far north and west. Trout Lake is
only about 86 road miles from Portland (straight north of Hood River).
I don't have any recollection of a western Oregon record of Gray-headed Junco
and I can only recall a few Oregon reports away from their one known Oregon
breeding outpost in the Trout Creek Mountains. This is just the second-ever
record for the state of Washington. Both the Washington Bird Records Committee
and the Oregon Bird Records Committee review records of some distinctive
subspecies, this being one of them.
Dave Irons
Portland, OR
