ML218865651

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Tags

Habitat

Observation details

First observation at 1211. 1 counted on property. Seen land in the grassy, disturbed area of reach 3, just north of the crossing beam. We walked slowly towards it and it flushed as we got within 20 m, landing ca 50-100 m farther east. As it flushed, it made a single, staccato call composed of about 5-10 unmelodic syllables on the same pitch in rapid succession. As it flew, we noted that it was warm brownish above, without the white wing patches of SNBU. The call plus appearance was sufficient to ID it, but David Casey was able to spot it on the ground as we approached, among introduced rhizomatous grasses and last year's Kochia scoparia. We saw it for only a few second (but managed to get a photo) before it darted into cover, then flushed about 100 m south across the creek. It remained cryptically hidden in this area for several minutes until it flushed again as Tom and Will Kreissler joined us. This time it flew about 100-150 m NE and landed again, once again making a single 'p-d-d-d-dt' call as it flushed. Very notable sighting: not only the first spring sighting of a LALO at Sevenmile Creek, but also the latest eBird sighting of one ever reported in Lewis and Clark County! However, reliable eBird records for Montana extend through the middle of May (some with photo documentation). Detections (number 15-minute intervals in which the species was detected): 2 on property.

Technical information

Model

COOLPIX P900

ISO

100

Focal length

116 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/800 sec

Dimensions

4608 pixels x 3456 pixels

Original file size

6.92 MB