Michael reports a possible Sage Sparrow at Lake Sammamish State Park. He
provides a good description of this species. The Sage Sparrow is rare in
western Washington, but not improbable. The Sage Sparrow seems prone to
overshooting on its spring push north into eastern WA from its wintering
grounds in the interior southwest. There are actually quite a cluster of
records over the years beginning about 17 February and continuing through
at least mid-April (my data is sketchy on the latest records).

I speculate a portion of the Sage Sparrow population spills over to western
Washington as a result of a strong southwesterly flow in the weather
pattern coincident with the major push north of this species. I would
guess a substantial proportion of Sage Sparrows breeding in the Columbia
Basin of Washington are migrating north at this time. Given suitable strong
tail winds, a number of birds could easily become lost. Thus disoriented,
strays ending up in western Washington are not improbable, as the records
reflect.

I offer this same rationale as a plausible reason why, in some years,
interior Washington sees an influx of Black-throated Sparrows, while in
others, none. If a strong southwesterly flow coincides with that species
main influx into eastern Oregon, a number might overshoot north into
eastern Washington, Idaho and even farther north.

My thoughts here could be readily tested by examining weather records over
the past x years and determining if any correlation exists between spring
weather patterns and presence/absence of these two species into Washington
(western WA in the late February-early April period for Sage Sparrow,
eastern WA in the mid-May through early June period for Black-throated
Sparrow.).

I especially invite comments from Jack Bowling, resident Tweeters
meteorologist regarding my thoughts here.

Jack, is the Pacific Northwest now subject to a strong southwesterly flow
aloft?

Andy Stepniewski
Wapato WA

----------
> From: Michael & Janka Hobbs <MJCT_Hobbs at email.msn.com>
> To: Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
> Cc: rrogers at halcyon.com
> Subject: Sage Sparrow at LSSP???
> Date: Tuesday, February 23, 1999 6:49 PM
>
> Tweets --
>
> This afternoon, I saw a sparrow which I have concluded was a SAGE
SPARROW, although that sounds a bit improbable.
>
> About 4:00 this afternoon, in the rain, I flushed a sparrow off the
western spit at the mouth of Issaquah Creek in Lake Sammamish
> State Park, Issaquah, King Co, WA. It flew to the opposite shore, where
I was able to observe it for at least 5 minutes.
>
> The bird spent the entire time on the ground, under and around a tangle
of roots. It was very active, never stopping for a moment.
> As such, I was able to see the bird from all angles, but I never got a
prolonged look at ANY angle. There was often or usually a
> twig or two between us, so I had few looks at the whole bird at once.
>
> Most notably, the bird was pale, with a white breast, tan-brown back, and
blue-grey head.
>
> The head featured two white stripes, one thin one above the eye, and one
wider moustache stripe, which lay under the blue-grey, and
> was bordered on the bottom by a dark stripe. There seemed to be a fairly
clear separation between the blue-grey head and the
> tan-brown back. There were no stripes on the crown. Face-on, there
seemed to be a blackness to the lores, bisected by the white
> supercillia. This was not apparent from the side.
>
> The back was very pale, and was somewhat mottled - a tan-brown base with
tan markings. I could not discern any particular details
> to the mottling, as the distance (perhaps 15 yards) was too great in the
4:00 rainy dimness, even with 10x binos and a steady hand.
>
> The breast was mostly clear and white to grey-white. There was faint
streaking, mostly at the edges (not in the center of the
> breast). I did not see a central breast spot; if there was one it was
pale.
>
> The bird was "with" a Bewick's wren. In comparison, the sparrow was
decidedly bigger and much, much, much lighter on the back. The
> white on the breast of the sparrow was less yellow-toned than the breast
of the Bewick's.
>
> After it hopped out of sight, I raced around to the east side of Issaquah
Creek, but could not relocate the bird. I will try again
> tomorrow.
>
> == Michael Hobbs
> == Kirkland WA
> == MJCT_Hobbs at msn.com
>