First the caveats.  I realize this is a second-hand report and may not
include all the details.  And I am sure that Dan Sanders has seen more
Sprague's Pipits than I have had hot breakfasts.
With that understood, I urge anyone who goes after this bird to pay close
attention to leg color.  The pink legs of the Sprague's separate it from all
the races that occur in the Lower 48.  That was what we used to look for
when I lived in Arizona when we commonly filtered through squadrons of
America Pipits looking for a stray Sprague's.  You have to look closely,
though.  On bright days, the bird's own shadow can mask the leg color.

This bird would seem to be very early, whatever kind of pipit it is.  The
two records for Sprague's  cited in Peterjohn are for 31 Oct and mid Nov.
 The earliest American Pipit record is 2 Sep.  Given that this bird is
seriously dislocated both spatially and temporally, perhaps we should not
assume that it is simply a matter of choosing between American and
Sprague's.

Finally, it is great to see Ohio birders encountering pipit problems.  In
the Old World, pipit problems are considered very thorny.  A good pipit
problem can bring a day's birding to a screeching halt and in extreme case
can lead to fist fights.

Cheers,

Bob

--
Robert D Powell
Wilmington, OH, USA
[log in to unmask]
http://rdp1710.wordpress.com

Nulla dies sine linea

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