A call from Troy Shively informs me that only one Le Conte's sparrow
was seen this morning at the Funk WA spots announced the other day. The
number of observers was only five or so, and this species is known to
occur throughout October, so one may speculate this phenomenon is not over.
        Bruce Glick informed me that local observers turned up one or perhaps
two extra Le Conte's later on Saturday, as well as a Nelson's
sharp-tailed sparrow over six inches of water near the Le Conte's spots,
found by Dennis Kline and seen by all. A conservative total of six Le
Conte's on one occasion represents a record second only to the
extraordinary fall flight of 1936, when this number was equaled or much
exceeded in many locations from the Lake shore down to the southernmost
counties.
        Certainly this fall's recorded occurrences of this species--and there
will probably be more--represents something extraordinary, but probably
only extraordinary new shared knowledge of where to find Le Conte's,
rather than an explosion in its numbers or shift in its migratory route.
Peterjohn (2001) records only "ten reports during the 1990s, although
this secretive sparrow is not detected annually."  Since that time it
has recently been documented more than three times annually, and it is
no longer a review species.
        To me it seems this documented change in status seems to have come
about because of some encouraging new trends:
        1. coverage by increased numbers of observers
        2. increased knowledge among birders about rarer species
        3. increased documentation of rarities for the record
        3. increased communications (such as this list) about sightings.
So our knowledge about Le Conte's sparrow increases, as do Ohioans'
chances of seeing this beautiful species in the field.
Bill Whan
Columbus

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