[obol] Black Rosy-Finches and singing Sage Sparrows, north end of Alvord Desert

[Joel Geier]

Hi folks,

This morning I found a flock of 80 to 90 Rosy-Finches along a rocky
slope near Mickey Hot Springs at the north end of the Alvord Desert,
Harney County. Most of the flock were GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCHES but at
least six were BLACK ROSY-FINCHES, including two males in breeding
plumage.

Of the Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches, most had full gray hoods (as in the
"coastal" form per Sibley), but about one in ten had brown cheeks
extending up to the eye ("interior" form according to Sibley).

The location is about three miles east of the East Steens Byway (shown
as "Fields-Denio Rd." in DeLorme, p. 74, B3, I'm not sure what's the
proper name for this stretch of the road). About 8 miles south of Mann
Lake where I camped, where the main road (good gravel in this stretch)
makes a 90-degree bend to the west, a dirt road goes off to the
southeast, then turns east. Where this road wraps around the south tip
of a ridge that juts southwestward into the Alvord Desert (a few miles
before reaching Mickey Spring) is where I found the flock. 

The Rosy-Finches were feeding on the lowermost, SE face of the ridge
where there is rubbly basalt outcrop, sometimes ranging out onto the
alluvial apron. They worked their way from NE to SW along the SE face of
the ridge, then flew back NE to their starting point twice while I
watched them (in the space of about half an hour). I suspect that they'd
just finished one such pass when I first encountered them, flying from
the SW end of the ridge back toward the NE. 

They were quite easy to approach to within 30-50 ft by just walking to a
point out in front of the flock, and then letting them work their way
past, either walking or in short flights. A couple of birds had problems
with the sagebrush, running into bushes while they made their short
flights, but quickly recovering as if nothing had happened.

There was a light covering of snow on the Alvord this morning (about a
half inch of very fluffy flakes, more higher up) which may have brought
the finches downslope from similar habitat higher up on the same ridge.
The area where I saw them (on the north/northwest side of the road) is
signed as a Wilderness Study Area.

About four SAGE SPARROWS were singing in the same area, and I
encountered two more farther west on the same road, for a total of at
least six. I did not find any Sage Sparrows in four other breeding spots
that I checked on this trip (Guano Valley in se. Lake Co., Big Springs
Table in northern Nevada, Crowley Rd. in Malheur Co., and Glass Buttes
in ne. Lake Co.), so it seems that the Alvord sparrows have arrived
earlier than the rest -- perhaps because this area is at lower elevation
than the other spots.

I'll post more in my weekend trip (Warner/Coleman Valley - Hart Mountain
- Sheldon NWR - Denio - Alvord - Malheur), but these were the most
likely birds of the trip that others might be interested in looking for.
It certainly seemed like an easier way to see Black Rosy-Finches than
driving all the way to the top of Steens Mountain (which looked pretty
snowy, at least that part that wasn't shrouded in clouds). 

The Mickey Springs road had a few rocks (all capped with little tussocks
of snow this morning), but was firm and surprisingly smooth, very easy
to negotiate in our Toyota minivan. For me it was a very nice way to
find a long-awaited life species. I was looking for this species since I
wondered what became of them in the winter. I saw this ridge jutting
out, and figured that it was the only reasonably likely habitat that I
could get to on public land in that area. Not often do hunches based
practicality work out so well.

Happy birding,
Joel

P.S. Oh yeah, one other (less eagerly awaited) life species today,
Eurasian Collared-Dove in Burns, sitting on a wire. Someone must be
catching them and roasting them, since I only saw one.

--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis