While conducting an impoundment survey at Back Bay NWR, I observed a small
darkish sparrow-sized bird fly up from the grassy road edge and dive back into
the grass a bit further along the dike road. I assumed the bird was a Savannah
Sparrow, since I had seen my first of the fall at Back Bay last week. I
watched the spot where the bird had disappeared but I saw nothing move.
Usually Savannah Sparrows wait a few seconds after alighting and then work
their way through the grass, raising their heads from time to time. I inched
the vehicle forward and the bird flushed again, repeating the secretive
behavior. After another repeat of this response to my inching forward, I
decided to move on, assuming that my initial identification was correct. As I
passed the spot where the bird had hunkered down, it flew up giving the hard
rattling ticky-tick call of a longspur. It climbed quickly and disappeared to
the west. Although there is the possibility of another longspur, it's almost
certainly a Lapland. The lack of any strong white flashes in the tail is
consistent with this id as well. The date is early but slightly later than the
currently published extreme date (Sept 30) in the Gold Book.
Groups of Northern Flickers, Blue Jays, and thousands of Tree Swallows
gave a hint of the movement taking place. I also had a Black-and-white Warbler
a couple of Blue-headed Vireos, two Yellow-billed Cukcoos, and a Summer Tanager
in the woods as I drove through. There was also a nice flock of Pine Warblers
feeding at all heights and in a great variety of plumages. Hawks on the other
hand were very few. Pied-billed Grebes were the major water bird seen. A few
Great-Blue Herons, a Green Heron, and one Great Egret were the only herons. A
pair of Wood Ducks were the only ducks.
Robert L. Ake
6603 Catherine Street
Norfolk VA 23505
I did an ABA Big Year in 2010 - If you'd like to review it, my blog is at
http://bobsbirds.blogspot.com/
