[TopOfUtah] 2 MCCOWN'S LONGSPURS, 6800 N 7600 W TREMONTON

Sat Feb 2 20:04:19 MST 2008

Apologies for the long post....today I found two MCCOWN'S LONGSPURS on 6800
N, about 1.5 mile west of 7600 W, in Tremonton.  First off, thanks to Steve
and Cyndy Sommerfeld for posting their sighting of a non-Lapland Longspur (
i.e. McCown's or Chestnut-collared) at this location on 1/26.  The
Sommerfeld's report was the major impetus for my trip, along with Harry
Kreuger's McCown's Longspur sighting of a McCown's Longspur in Idaho, on
1/20/08 on Poen Rd, in Ada County, Idaho.  See here for Harry's initial
report:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ible/message/14048

Secondly, a big thanks to Jack Binch, who was at 6800 N when I arrived.
Jack helped (Jack hope I spelled/got your name right!) confirm the
identification, and the two of us then spent about 3 hrs chasing and
searching for the two McCown's Longspurs.  We were able to locate the birds
four more times, and at 3:10 pm, we saw both McCown's along the side of 6800
N simultaneously.  I left at 3:20; I think Jack left shortly after, but not
sure.

Okay, details on the birds.  I located the birds around ~1145 am while Jack
and I were scoping Lapland Longspurs and Horned Larks foraging in a field on
the north side of 6800 N.  I found first one bird, and it was quickly joined
by another in my field-of-view.  Both MCCOWN'S LONGSPURS were grayish
overall, smaller than both the Horned Larks and the Lapland Longspurs
(LALO's).  By the way, if you want to see the most Lapland Longspurs you
will likely ever see at once, this is the place.  At one point I counted 60
feeding along the road in one flock; there were only 15 Horned Larks in that
bunch! That's more LALO's than I have ever seen in 22 years of birding, let
alone in one place!

Okay, back to the McCown's; the McCown's were only slightly smaller than the
Laplands.  Both McCown's were pale grayish overall, with gray faces.  The
heads on the McCown's had little or no contrast; I did not observe any black
on the faces, either on the crown, the edges of the auricular patch, or on
the malar; no chestnut was observed on the nape or on the hindcrown.  The
heads of both birds appeared quite plain, which was in marked contrast to
the LALO's.  The LALO's had strong dark markings that outlined the auricular
patch, and some had dark crown stripes, buffy above the auriculars and below
the crown stripes, and dark malars; these birds all appeared to be males
molting into alternate plumage.  Neither McCown's had dark streaking on the
back, which again was quite unlike the LALO's.

Both McCown's had reddish-chestnut median secondary coverts that were
clearly visible when the birds were on the ground, when their wings were
folded.  In contrast, all the LALO's had rufous-edged greater (not median
secondary) coverts which were readily visible when the birds were on the
ground.  Neither McCown's had any rufous on the greater coverts; the greater
coverts were gray on both McCown's.  I also noticed that both McCown's had a
black mark just below the bend of the wing, visible when the wing was
folded.

Both McCown's had white tails with an inverted blackish T visible when they
flew (seen on at least three different occasions), with the "crossbar" of
the T at the tailtips.  The T is formed, as far as I could tell, by the
combination of two black central rectrices, and all the black tips on all
the rectrices.  Both birds had blackish breasts; at least some of the black
breast feathers appeared to have some grayish edging, not unlike the male
Lapland Longspurs that are molting into alternate plumage.  The black breast
band on the McCown's, however, differed from the LALO's in that it was wider
and appeared to stretch across the entire breast.  The black on the McCown's
did not extend below the breast as it does in Chestnut-collared Longspur.

Based on my observations and a consultation of molt and plumage in the Birds
of North America online species account for McCown's Longspur, it appears
that both individuals were adult males in basic plumage that were just
starting to lose the gray feather edgings on their black chest feathers.
McCown's apparently also gain their black malars and crowns by losing gray
feather edging, but this was not visible on these individuals.  Neither bird
had the complete suite of plumage features consistent with an adult male
McCown's in alternate plumage, but both birds had black breast bands, and I
could not see any buffy edging to the reddish-chestnut lesser median
secondary coverts, which would indicate basic plumage.

Finally, I have prior experience with all four longspur species, and I've
seen McCown's and Chestnut-collared on their breeding grounds in SE Wyoming
and NE Colorado (Pawnee Natl Grasslands).

Because McCown's Longspur is a Review Species for the Utah State Records
Committee, I am hoping other people will be able to locate these birds and
get some sort of photographic evidence, digital or otherwise; I don't have
the necessary photographic gear.  If you do go, a scope is critical, because
the birds are very jumpy.  Park well off the road, there are lots of very
fast trucks, and I did not realize it, but Jack mentioned that this is the
road Kris was hit on.  Patience is also key; I don't think the birds are
difficult to recognize because they are coming into alternate plumage, but
Jack and I looked/chased after longspur/lark flocks from at least 11 am to
330 pm and we only saw the two McCown's Longspurs on four or five occasions.

No Snow Buntings were present, but at one point I did see five Rosy-finches,
probably all Grey-Crowned; two birds had gray faces.  I believe these would
be Gray-cheeked or Hepburn's Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches.  However, I was more
intent on the possibility of locating the unknown longspur, and I paid
little attention when the Rosy-finches took off for other parts.

Other birds seen on 6800 N included:

400+ Red-winged Blackbirds

1 adult Bald Eagle (at least six more were visible, with a scope, hanging
out on Salt Creek WMA)

2 Rough-legged Hawks

2 Western Meadowlarks

7 House Finches

1 Common Raven

6800 N can be reached from Tremonton by driving south on Iowa String Rd /
6800 W from its intersection with Utah State Hwy 102 in Tremonton.  It can
also be reached by taking Exit 368 from I-15 near Brigham City, and then
taking Utah State Hwy 13 west through Corinne, then Utah State Hwy 83 west,
and then turning north on Iowa String / 6800 W.  Either way, look for the
signs for the County Landfill and Salt Creek WMA on the east side of Iowa
String Rd / 6800 W; these signs are directly opposite the intersection of
6800 N and 7000 W / Iowa String Rd.

GOOD LUCK!

Craig Fosdick

Logan, Utah
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