I know of no breeding records of the Oregon Vesper Sparrow (VESP), P.
g. affinis, on Whidbey Island in the literature, and I am unaware of
any breeding season records of VESP in the museum record, however, I
have not checked all of the available collections. This goes for the
north Olympic Peninsula as well. VESP still nest in the San Juan
Islands and since Whidbey Island and the north Olympic Peninsula had
a component of native prairie habitat at one time, I think it is
almost certain that they nested there historically. There are
breeding season records from Whatcom and Skagit Counties. I actually
don't know of any VESP records for Whidbey at all, although, I would
be surprised if there were not any.

I also think it is a little to early in the season to assume that if
the VESP is singing it must be nesting or on territory. The phenology
of westside VESP is not fully described. I think it is possible that
it is a bird moving through to San Juan or Vancouver Island. Of
course an easy way to determine if it is on territory is to see if it
sticks around...

I hope that helps,

Russell
------------------------------------------------------------
Russell Rogers
Fish and Wildlife Biologist
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Point Whitney Shellfish Laboratory
1000 Point Whitney Road
Brinnon WA 98320
Office (360) 586-1498 ex 221
Cell (360) 460-4923
fax (360) 586-8408
rogerrer at dfw.wa.gov
------------------------------------------------------------


On May 19, 2005, at 4:57 PM, Kelly Mcallister wrote:

> The Vesper Sparrow sighting is a really good one. Does anyone know
> if Vesper Sparrows are regular in occurrence anywhere on
> Whidbey Island? It's probably reasonable to assume that a Vesper
> Sparrow, in grassland habitat, at this time of year, is
> likely breeding in the area. Detection of singing males would be
> good. Is anyone up for it?
>
>
> Kelly McAllister
> Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
> Olympia, Washington
> Reply to: mcallkrm at dfw.wa.gov
>
> On Thu, 19 May 2005, Steve Ellis wrote:
>
>
>> Date: Thu, 19 May 2005 12:42:09 -0700
>> From: Steve Ellis <sellis at coup.wednet.edu>
>> To: Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
>> Subject: [Tweeters] Whidbey Bluebird/ Vesper Sp.
>>
>> Last evening I received a report of a pair of Western Bluebirds at
>> the
>> Ausable property just outside of Coupeville. I found the male on the
>> property near Morris Road and may have just glimpsed the female. Mt
>> Bluebirds show up on occasion in spring & fall but Westerns have
>> only been
>> reported a couple of times.
>> Almost immediately after viewing the bluebird I noticed a
>> largish sparrow
>> hopping down the path among the grass. It turned out to be a
>> Vesper Sparrow.
>> It failed to notice me until it was so close I couldn't focus by
>> binocular
>> on it. Once before I'd glimpsed a sparrow there that I felt was a
>> Vesper.
>> Other birds noted in the 1/2 hour I was there: Red-tailed Hawk,
>> American
>> Kestrel (with prey item), White-crowned Sparrow (many), Savannah
>> Sparrow
>> (ditto), Am. Crow, Rufous Hummingbird, Am. Goldfinch, Pine Siskin.
>> The property lies along Parker Road at the junction with Hwy 20.
>> Ausable
>> is an environmental education institution and they welcome birders
>> on their
>> land. Many of the prairie flowers are still blooming including
>> Death Camas.
>> Steve Ellis
>> sellis at coup.wednet.edu
>> _______________________________________________
>> Tweeters mailing list
>> Tweeters at u.washington.edu
>> http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters
>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tweeters mailing list
> Tweeters at u.washington.edu
> http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters
>

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