Uh-oh! Not a pipit
Mon, 05 Aug 2002 10:57:47 -0700
From: Peter Dramer
This morning Bob Richmond joined me in looking at the "Sprague's Pipit." Yes, it is posing as a pipit in pipit habitat but nevertheless, after long examination, Bob has pronounced the bird a juvenile Horned Lark.
Not only is there no grassland nearby but we also discovered why no one found the bird later in the day. When disturbed by too many people the bird flies out onto the bay mudflats to the edge of the water where it sits with its back to you. Not only does it do a great pipit imitation but it can blend in with the peeps. Grassland birds on the mudflats??? What next?
My apologies for the error. For anyone still inclined to argue "pipit" after looking at the guide books I can only say that Bob Richmond is way too knowledgeable to be argued with.
Peter
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Identifying pipits
Mon, 5 Aug 2002 12:16:36 PDT
From: Steve Glover
Hello everyone,
Just thought I would toss in my own two cents about pipits. The following is in no way a criticism of anyone.
One thing that should always be taken into consideration when reporting a rare bird is timing. Though it is true that birds have wings and can conceivably show up at just about anytime, the fact is that most of them don't. In general I would hesitate to write a bird off based solely on timing and I often have problems with rarity committees who reject rarities because they fall out of a "pattern." But:
1) The first week of August is a very early date for any type of pipit for the lowlands, and I would be surprised to see one here before late August. If anyone has found pipits with any regularity before September, I would be interested in hearing about it.
2) For birds from 1997 and earlier you can go to Joe Morlan's wonderful website and check the California Bird Records Committee master list, compiled by Roberson and Patten (surely a massive task!). This includes all accepted, rejected and unsubmitted records. Of 23 accepted records for California. through 1997, the earliest Sprague's Pipit was September 21, with the rest all October or later. Even all of the rejected and submitted birds were October or later.
This doesn't mean that it would be impossible for a Sprague's Pipit to appear in August, only that you should be prepared to document it thoroughly and hopefully photograph it.
Steve Glover
Dublin
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Re: Juvenile Horned Lark (?) at Hayward
Shoreline
Mon, 05 Aug 2002 13:20:56 -0700
From: Peter Dramer
Given the representations of Horned Larks in the guides, people seeing the bird today are having great trouble accepting that it is in fact a Horned Lark. While I personally accept Bob Richmond's identification, given the sandbagging nature of this bird, it would be really great if someone with a digital camera could record it for future education.
The bird keeps returning to the same section of Bay Trail and has allowed joggers to within a few feet before flushing. Early in the morning is good for light, no wind and the fewest people.
Directions once again: From the parking lot at the end of W Winton Ave in Hayward, take the trail south through Cogswell Marsh. After crossing the first long, pedestrian bridge turn right. The bird favors the straight stretch of trail between the bridge and the bay.
Peter
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Re: Juvenile Horned Lark (?) at Hayward
Shoreline
Mon, 5 Aug 2002 13:41:15 PDT
From: Steve Glover
Hello all,
On the issue of identification of Sprague's Pipit versus Horned Lark I have little to offer as I have never gotten a good look at a Sprague's Pipit. But I do notice that both the National Geographic Guide and Sibley are careful to mention that juvenile Horned Larks are often misidentified as Sprague's Pipits. And since Horned Larks breed locally, then this seems more likely.
I, like Peter, feel that if Bob says Horned Lark then it probably is a Horned Lark. It would be interesting to hear from some of those who looked at the bird today and don't agree. Has anyone gotten a photo yet?
Steve Glover
Dublin
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Sprague's Pipit or Horned Lark?
Mon, 05 Aug 2002 19:48:44 -0700
From: Peter Dramer
I spoke to a number of people today who looked at the bird. They all argued for the Sprague's Pipit identification. When informed of Bob's identification, they were all still eager to argue against the Horned Lark. Yes, the books do remark on the similarity of the two birds but, for anyone relying on the guides, the illustrations for the Sprague's Pipit, unfortunately, best match the bird seen.
Speaking strictly to the behavior of the bird, it appeared in an area without grassland nearby. One side of the trail was marsh pickleweed and the opposite side - bay mudflats. This area of trail is commonly used by American Pipits and I have never seen a Horned Lark there. The Horned Larks that are on bay trails always occur on sections that have grassland on at least one side.
When flushed from the trail the pipits usually fly back to the same trail either ahead or behind you. That was the repeated behavior of this bird.
The Horned Larks when flushed from the trails nearly always disappear in the nearby grasses. Occasionally, they will land far in front of you but will only do this one time before leaving for the grass. Behaviorally, this bird was acting like a pipit and did not appear as a lark in flight. As for the shorebird imitation - who knows??
We are fortunate to have big league birders like Bob and Steve and Joe to keep us aware. Thanks to all.
Peter
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Re: Sprague's Pipit or Horned Lark?
Mon, 5 Aug 2002 22:29:22 PDT
From: Steve Glover
Peter and all,
Not having seen the bird, I cannot say what it is and won't make any argument one way or another so hopefully my earlier post didn't sound like I was. My point was simply to point out likelihood. I for one would love this bird to be a Sprague's Pipit as I have never seen one in the state. But Bob e-mailed me that it was a Horned Lark, and I trust Bob. Of course Bob has been wrong before and I have been wrong even more often than he has. I wish I had time in the next couple of days to go look for the bird but I don't, so again I must plea for a photo of this thing so we can get some real experts involved in this thing.
Short of a photo, is there anyone else on East Bay Birds that has seen this bird and would care to stick their necks out?
Isn't it great that our hobby can be so difficult?
Steve Glover
Dublin
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Re: Sprague's Pipit or Horned Lark?
Mon, 05 Aug 2002 22:46:19 -0700
From: Dave Quady
Hello to the pipitlark fans out there:
The bird' gave me a couple of minutes' look at around 1 PM this afternoon. Although I arrived at the shoreline about 9:30 AM, I had missed seeing it when others did in the late morning. But by the time I did see it I was armed (or prejudiced?) with knowledge of peoples' opinions about its identity, and of the unlikelihood of a pipit at this early date.
I believe the bird is a juvenile Horned Lark, based partly on its feeding behavior and partly on what I could observe of its plumage during my too-brief, too-distant-for-my-liking observation. My viewing ended when a bicyclist flushed it. When flushed, the bird flew to the muddy edge of the bay (near the dog-leg in the trail at the northwest corner of Cogswell Marsh), as Peter and Bob also witnessed. Unfortunately I took my eye off the bird then, and did not see where it disappeared to. The bird did not reappear in the next hour and a half. During my brief observation I recorded some notes, but will not post them here so as not to bore everyone. If, however, you want some laughs early this week, I'll happily e-mail you my notes upon request.
More useful than my notes, I hope, will be the few distant photos I took. When I get my slides developed I'll try to figure out how to make them available to EBBers. (Larry: Help!!)
Dave Quady
Berkeley, California
Editor's Note: Photos can be e-mailed to me. I will put them on the website and let you know the URL. You can then post a message to the group about the photo(s). --Larry
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