Hello Everyone,
Much thanks to Phillip North for his report of the south Columbus Lark
Sparrows. I checked the area out this afternoon for about 30 minutes. I
did, indeed, find at least one LARK SPARROW. Two birds flew by me right as
I was pulling up to park on the south side of the Lowe's parking lot. The
trailing bird had noticeable white outer tail spots but the leading bird
didn't have any as far as I could tell. Both birds, however, were the same
size and of the same general structure in flight.
I finally tracked down one adult and had fantastic looks but could never get
two birds at one time. I also found another interesting bird which may have
been the leading bird of the flying duo that I originally spotted upon
arriving. This bird was close to a few first-year House Sparrows and it was
about the same size with a longer tail...structurally similar to a Lark
Sparrow. It had noticeable fine streaking on the breast with a very
noticeable wing bar running along the tips of the greater coverts. With the
quick view, I didn't notice much in the way of distinctive facial markings
or white in the outer tail. From all I've been reading, white outer tail
corners should be apparent on young Lark Sparrows. The thought crossed my
mind that this bird could have been a Lark Sparrow but I have ZERO
experience with first-year Lark Sparrows and the look was too brief to be
sure.
If anyone goes after these birds, keep your eyes peeled for birds fitting
the description of a young Lark Sparrow. This would be a great confirmed
breeding record for the Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas and is currently the
eastern most record for either of Ohio's Atlases! There were no Franklin
County records of Lark Sparrows during the first Atlas in the mid-80s.
Also, keep on the lookout for other nesting birds. These sparrows are in a
block with virtually no Atlas data (block 68A1SE) and there were young birds
of several species all over the place.
Aaron Boone
Project Coordinator
Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas II
(614) 247-6458
www.ohiobirds.org/obba2/
-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio birds [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
=?windows-1252?Q?Phillip_North?=
Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2007 9:37 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [Ohio-birds] Lowes Wetland and Lark sparrows
I hit the temporary wetland in South Columbus, just south of the Lowes
parking lot at the junction of High St( St Rte 23) and I270. I go down
and observe this area almost every work day on my lunch hr. Over the last
weekend the wetland shrunk by about 30% concentrating the remaining
potential food for the Great Egrest that have been there for the last 6
wks.
On Monday I had my highest count of 30 Great Egrets easily besting my
previous high count of 17. The number has decreased to 10 today. Shore
birds have been mainly Killdeers, least and semipalmated sandpipers. Other
birds have included turkey vultures , Indigo buntings, goldfinches and
song sparrows. Barn cliff and tree swallows have also been seen.
I usually go around 1 PM and park on the ridge above the wetland. As I
was getting ready to leave I looked behind me and saw what appeared to be
a sparrow like bird with white outer tail feathers. There were 2 of them
and they landed in some brush behind the car. I got some good looks and
they had a single black spot on an almost white chest with a strongly
marked face with striped cap. I beleve thay were a pair of LARK SPARROWS.
I checked E Bird and could not find any reports for lark sparrows in
central Ohio. I would appreciate it if anyone could let me know if they
have seen any Lark Sparrows in this area.
Thanks and good birding Phillip
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