Lapland Longspurs – Skinner Lane

I made a brief stop at Skinner Lane today after work to look for Snow Buntings. The Horned Larks had increased in number to somewhere between 75 and 100 birds. I did not have any luck with the buntings, but as I scanned the larks with my scope, I did manage to locate two LAPLAND LONGSPURS. Two things seemed to stand out about the longspurs. The first was was the obvious markings that form a dark frame on the cheek of the birds. The second is that they seemed to be moving differently than the surrounding larks, a little closer to the ground and more quickly too. I watched the birds for nearly a half hour in the scope, until they lifted up and I was unable to relocate them, mostly because it was getting pretty dark. This is a life bird for me, so I was of course very excited.  The birds were too far out for photos, but I will certainly try for photos in the upcoming days if the birds stick around.

Huge thanks once again to Rob Stone, if it wasn’t for him talking to me about it, I would not have even been out there looking for these birds.