Joel, I oppose reporting subspecies or races unless maybe if that is
something one is studying, participating in. I got that in my craw years
ago when someone I was with reported all the Scrub Jays as coastal form if
he saw it or not just based on where we were geographically. I would like
for ebird to make the option of these sub or below the species level harder
to find.
On Fri, Mar 15, 2019 at 3:32 PM Thomas Gilg <tom@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Wrt the Clay-colored Sparrow... indeed Kaplan Yalcin first reported the
bird, but he hoped others would follow-up since he felt his initial call of
Brewer's was iffy. I just happened to be the first responder, and got some
conclusive pictures.
--tg
-----Original Message-----
From: birding-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <
birding-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of clearwater@xxxxxxxx
Sent: Friday, March 15, 2019 10:34 AM
To: Roy Gerig <roygerig@xxxxxxxxx>; OBOL <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Midvalley Birding Midvalley <birding@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [midvalleybirds] Re: More on Blueberry Hill Chestnut-collared
Longspur
Roy and all,
My impression is that reported numbers of Horned Larks from southwestern
Linn County, as well as most other regular wintering areas in the
mid-Willamette Valley region have been low this winter, at least through
December and January, in comparison with what we might have expected 5-10
years ago.
It's hard to know how much of that was due to lack of birder attention to
appropriate habitats in sw. Linn. There are only a few birders who patrol
that area with any regularity. Now thanks to you with you, Tom Gilg and
others (was it Kaplan Yalcin who originally reported the Spizella sparrow
that turned out to be a Clay-colored?) plus Jeff Fleischer stirring the pot
with a Gyrfalcon sighting, that area is getting a lot of traffic.
But now people are finding more Horned Larks. As Lars Norgren notes, some
of these appear to be be larks that came from east of the Cascades, or
farther north (these "out-of-towners" tend to be much less saturated with
yellow in the face and upper breast).
Word from Horned Lark researchers in British Columbia is that, earlier in
the winter, the main concentrations of Horned Larks seemed to be in the
Okanogan Highlands in north-central Washington. Perhaps some of those got
pushed south and west by the recent and persistent deep snow cover.
For the endemic western Oregon/Washington subspecies strigata ("Streaked"
Horned Lark, now federally listed as "Threatened" but maybe headed for
uplisting as "Endangered"), the apparent low numbers earlier in the winter
are worrisome. It would be good to hear if someone turns up a big flock as
a result of the current focus of attention on sw. Linn Co.
Noticing the recent discussion of reporting subspecies on eBird, let me
add: In my view it's not at all beneficial to report threatened/endangered
subspecies on eBird, unless those reports are subject to a very high level
of vetting, much stricter than is currently in place. Otherwise "false
positives" could inflate the apparent numbers, and that could be
counterproductive for conservation.
When I talk to eBird reviewers about quality-control issues, I keep
hearing that they're all volunteers so we shouldn't expect too much. That's
very understandable, but unfortunately end users of the data may not
understand.
And some end users may not want to understand. As the current effort to
uplist Streaked Horned Larks moves forward, there are some very powerful,
well-funded interest groups that will no doubt be looking for any
ammunition they can find to oppose that effort. They know how to look up
data on eBird just as well as anyone else does. So my recommendation is to
use extreme caution in listing T/E subspecies on checklists.
Joel
From: Roy Gerig <roygerig@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 14 Mar 2019 17:44:09 -0700
Subject: [obol] More on Blueberry Hill Chestnut-collared Longspur
I have just posted on eBird some of my photos from yesterday morning that
I took before Rachael got there, they show more light on breast streaks and
maybe tail pattern. When the bird spread its tail it was quick and I wasn't
ready, nothing new in that. I was there this morning before the fog lifted
but Courtney (nice to finally meet you) had been watching it from a
distance in the fog, and the Lapland was around with more color. I had
visitors from Bend today, and we had limited time, on the way back to Salem
and Bend, we drove Davis Rd, there was a real bright LAPLAND LONGSPUR
there, likely different than the one I saw there 3 days ago. North of the
Dorothy and Toto house, south of the round WV Ponderosa Pine, with 12 to 14
HORNED LARKS. Do you Joel Geier know if HOLA numbers are pretty good in
Linn County this winter? Seems like there might be an uptick, but it could
be my imagination HOLA numbers in Marion Co and Polk seem to be in the
crapper this winter, from what I can see, although my most recent trip up
Livermore showed 7, up from (0)1-4 every other time I drove it
Roy Gerig Salem OR
From: Lars Norgren < larspernorgren@xxxxxxxxx >
Date: Thu, 14 Mar 2019 20:20:58 -0700
Subject: [obol] Re: More on Blueberry Hill Chestnut-collared Longspur
I heard a Horned Lark singing on that part of Malpass Road March 3. I'm
guessing that may be a resident bird. The HOLA l have been able to
scrutinize in Linn County this past six weeks in Linn County have been out
of towners. Given the high amount of snow we have on the east side l think
some of those wintering birds may have been shunted this way.
It was about five years ago that l encountered three Snow Buntings and an
indeterminate number of longspurs on Davis Road during a detour in my day
at work. There were about 100 Horned Larks in that group which ended up in
a white clover field a mile north between Country and McClagan Roads.
The flock had diminished to about 35 by the first week of January.
Shawneen Finnegan and Dave Irons found a Chestnut-collared in that group at
the end of November. I have been seeing HOLA with much greater frequency in
Linn County since the new year than any time in the past half decade.lpn On
Thu, Mar 14, 2019, 6:19 PM Thomas Gilg < tom@xxxxxxxxxxxx > wrote:
Halsey Mill yielded even more.
fyi – in prior days, nearby Abraham Drive (near Potter) has yielded
good numbers of Horned Larks, hence is worth scanning for bonus
species. As I left Blueberry today, nearby Road 211 and Smith Road
yielded a few Horned Larks, and Malpass Road directly south of the
--tg
--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis
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