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Post by Gord on Feb 16, 2021 22:43:12 GMT -8
Just after noon today I paused on Banford Road south of Prairie Central. Almost right away I heard the flight calls and a bit of song mixed in of Lapland Longspur. This, I expected as there was a small flock of eight there yesterday. I soon spotted a surprisingly large flock of birds flying over the field. As they approached against the light sky I started to second guess myself could they be Snow Bunting as they sound quite similar to the longspurs and would be more expected in these numbers. I also listened and watched for pipit or Horned Lark who are commonly mixed in and could account for this sizable flock of initial estimate of 60 birds. As they flew over me close enough to see detail all were longspurs! They circled over the field west of Banford and came back past again for a second look. Every one was a longspur. Unbelievable. I took a quick photo as the last of the flock passed and then counted the flock twice (73 and 71) as they circled over the field before landing somewhere. They were very active and chasing each other here and there. This is an incredible number to see not only for here but for the winter (granted, until last week, was a mild one) as they're still not an overly expected wintering species. That said, we've had up to 20 odd using that Banford field to winter on for quite a few consecutive years. A poor photo of what all the birds in that flock looked like.  021_3523 by Gord G, on Flickr They don't happen often, but this definitely was one of those moments in birding when something far from expected happens. This almost rivals the Parasitic Jaegar and Sabine's Gull who flew past a few minutes apart at Island 22 a few years back. |
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Post by ed on Feb 17, 2021 19:14:32 GMT -8
Wow! That’s a superb sighting! There are a mixture of bird species in that field. Occasionally I see birds of this family group which like the open spaces, and it seems hit or miss depending on the moment. So far I’ve been unlucky with the Longspurs having seen mostly Horned Larks this winter.
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Post by Gord on Feb 18, 2021 7:23:42 GMT -8
Yesterday morning I counted flocks of 43 and about 20 Laplands coming in to the field. Also two Horned Lark and around 30 Am Pipits. All were close to the road feeding on the ground. The Longspurs are molting to their summer colours and are a treat to see.
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Post by ed on Feb 18, 2021 18:43:09 GMT -8
Saw only AMPI today!
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Post by Ben on Feb 18, 2021 20:01:39 GMT -8
Do you usually see the birds North or south of McGuire? I drive by sometimes, but haven't seen any of the three species there... |
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Post by ed on Feb 18, 2021 20:22:05 GMT -8
Always north of McGuire, usually in the corn stubble, although sometimes they fly over west towards the cedar nursery
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Post by ed on Feb 18, 2021 20:23:49 GMT -8
They are difficult to spot, I scan the rows close to the road carefully.
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Post by Ben on Feb 19, 2021 21:28:55 GMT -8
Thanks Ed!
I managed to find around 35 pipits there this morning
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Post by Gord on Feb 20, 2021 9:07:19 GMT -8
Our ears are our best friends here! Usually they are heard long before they are seen. They don't seem to sit on the ground for too long. A passing raptor often gets them to fly up and circle around a bit before they land again.
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Post by Ben on Feb 22, 2021 18:56:03 GMT -8
I had a flock of ~16 birds in flight there this morning. 4 of them had a substantial amount of white on them (mostly from the chest down), and the rest didn't stand out. They called, but I'm not confident enough to put them as a particular species other than "not Pipits"
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Post by Ben on Feb 25, 2021 12:45:06 GMT -8
This morning there were 50+ birds in the corn stubble. Minimum of 4 Larks, 6 Longspurs, and 10 Pipits.
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Post by Becke on Feb 28, 2021 11:36:30 GMT -8
So, there were a number of sky potatoes there this morning. They seemed to gather numbers every time they were in flight. Started out with a dozen and the last flock I saw on the way to the car was probably 40+. Mostly American Pipits, but we did see 2 Lapland Longspur for sure and then I've got a couple of photos that are pretty bad, but don't look like either necessarily. None of them are great, but I'll post them for your perusal. It was nice to visit with some other birders there over the past couple of days. I'm starting to get back into birding more again these days. The Lapland Longspur were a lifer for me, so I've been trying for them this week. Finally got 'em! YAY! The star:  lapland longspur by Becke Sigaty, on Flickr Mysteries:  mystery by Becke Sigaty, on Flickr  mystery-2 by Becke Sigaty, on Flickr Pipits:  pipet by Becke Sigaty, on Flickr  pipet-2 by Becke Sigaty, on Flickr |
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Post by Chris on Feb 28, 2021 19:56:51 GMT -8
Well done Becke. The second and third photos are of Lapland Longspurs that are in their winter plumage.
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Post by Becke on Feb 28, 2021 20:25:57 GMT -8
Well done Becke. The second and third photos are of Lapland Longspurs that are in their winter plumage. Okay cool, then there were plenty of them! Thanks! |
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