Greetings All:
I spent a remarkable two hours at Clapp Park this evening - where some
sparrows and buntings were putting on quite the show but warblers were
a bit sparse.
I was actually able to get all three male Indigo Buntings in a single
photograph and I have several shots with the male Lazuli Bunting and
one or two Indigo Buntings in the same frame - kind of stunning! The
only experience I can think of that was more remarkable for me at the
same location was the day, many years ago, when I had 9 Townsend's
Warblers under or in the oaks at the same time.
There seemed to be three major centers of sparrow activity: the oaks
by Shrubhenge, the open lawns of the arboretum near the visitor
center, and the ground beneath the pines at the northern end of the
park. I am using the minimum numbers based on single, careful counts
of birds on the ground - the actual numbers were higher as some birds
were up in trees. The oaks by Shrubhenge: 114 Chipping Sparrows, 32
Clay-colored Sparrows, 1 female and 1 male Lazuli Buntings, 2 female
and 3 male Indigo Buntings, 1 female Painted Bunting. In the
arboretum: 37 Chipping Sparrows and 19 Clay-colored Sparrows. Under
the pines: 25 Chipping Sparrows, 7 Clay-colored Sparrows, and another
female Painted Bunting. The only warbler I found at Shrubhenge was a
Nashville Warbler though there was a male Summer Tanager in a taller
tree nearby. Migrants in the arboretum included 1 Bell's Vireo, 1
MacGillivray's Warbler, and 1 Wilson's Warbler. Migrants at the pines
included 3 Orange-crowned Warblers, 1 Yellow Warbler, 2 Yellow-rumped
Warblers, and 1 Wilson's Warbler.
There were other goodies about but I am itching to get the eBird
report out so ... off I go.
Anthony Hewetson; Lubbock