Probable migrant Meadowlarks plus lingering Vesper Sparrows in northern Benton County

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Joel Geier

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Sep 22, 2021, 8:30:02 PM9/22/21
to Mid-Valley Nature, Oregon Birders OnLine
This afternoon I saw a flock of at least 18 Western Meadowlarks along Rifle Range Road at Camp Najaf (the National Guard training facility) in northern Benton County. I think 2 or 3 pairs of meadowlarks might still nest on this site, but it's highly unlikely that a flock that size could come from local production. So more likely, this flock includes recent migrants from east of the Cascades.

A few "Oregon" Vesper Sparrows (the subspecies that nests in western Oregon and western Washington, already listed as endangered in Washington and proposed for federal listing under the Endangered Species Act) are still hanging around nesting sites in the neighborhood.

Today I found a banded adult female still hanging around within 100 yards of where Bob Altman and I suspected that she had a late nest in July. A couple of other Vesper Sparrows were with her, at least one of which was unbanded, so perhaps fledglings from her nest that we never found. However it seems like flocks in late summer and early fall aren't strictly confined to family groups. Sometimes juveniles from different nests that fledged around the same time seem to band together to form their own flocks.  Lately we've been seeing a higher proportion of adults vs. juveniles, among  the few birds that are sticking around.

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Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis
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