Tweeters,

Thought you'd like to know that at least one Skylark remains in the field
in Sequim/Dungeness (north side of East Anderson Road, 0.8 mi west of the
Dungeness River bridge). It was there on 2/28/99 on the east side of the
field, near a large pile of woody debris.

Of interest, I received the following email from Darrell Clegg, Plymouth,
England, about our skylarks' possible subspecies. Darrell and Steve
Madge viewed Ruth Sullivan's pictures on Joe Morlan's webpage
(http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~jmorlan/gallery.htm).

As of today, I have received no real information about similarities or
differences between the Sequim Skylarks and those on the Saanich
Peninsula on Vancouver Island (someday I'll make the trip and look for
myself). Again, is there anyone with enough familiarity with the Saanich
Peninsula birds to make these comparisons?

The drama continues: will these birds depart come spring, or stick around
for the breeding season (the ultimate clue to subspecies?)?

Bob Boekelheide
Sequim

Message from Darrell Clegg:

>Hi Bob
>Apologies if this is all old hat by now.
>Steve Madge, author of "Handbook of the Bird Identification" and I have
>just been having a telephone conversation, whilst looking at photos of the
>Skylarks at Sequim. We were both struck by how rufous the bird looks, and
>consider it to be probably A.a. pekinensis. Vaurie, in Birds of the
>Palearctic Fauna 1959, p.57 says of pekinensis . Rich brown and black
>markings in fresh fall plumage. Feathers are bordered with broad strongly
>buff edges. It is large, with a wing length up to 124mm. The fact that the
>primaries are exposed well beyond the tertials seem to support this.
>Apart from A.a.japanensis, which some authorities consider a potential
>split, the only other possibility is A.a. intermedia, which breeds over
>most of East Russia and winters in Southern China. The plumage features in
>the photos however do not support this sub- species. Vaurie again describes
>it as "almost blackish" and the wing length is smaller, at between 106 and
>113mm.
>Darrell Clegg
>City of Plymouth Library and Information Services
>http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/star/library.htm
>cleggd at plymouth.gov.uk