Re: [nfc-l] Eastern Meadowlark NFCs

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 19:27:22 -0700

Bill,

 

It's funny that you should post this, as I had a similar occurrence in San Diego on Saturday morning at 5:30, about an hour before dawn.  I heard a Western meadowlark offer up a flight call from quite high up, and I could not recall ever having heard a meadowlark of either species giving a nocturnal flight call.  There are often a handful of WEMEs around my local patch during migration, but the habitat is marginal, so I don't expect that this was a "local" repositioning bird.  So, with all of the countless hours of listening I have done over the years, the fact that I had not heard one prior does seem to indicate that Evans' & O'Brien's statement is accurate.

 

Jay Keller,

San Diego, CA
-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Hubick
Sent: Oct 3, 2012 6:22 PM
To: "[email protected]"
Subject: [nfc-l] Eastern Meadowlark NFCs

Hi Everyone,

While commuting to Ocean City, Maryland on Sunday, 9/30, we made a stop in Easton, Maryland (Eastern Shore) at 3:40 a.m. to pick up a friend. While standing on the street and noting warblers passing overhead, I heard a call I recognized and immediately called it Eastern Meadowlark. This would be my first called in nocturnal flight, so, as whenever this is the case, I found myself hesitant. By coincidence, while driving home from work on Monday, I heard the same call I'd heard the previous night. Crazy?  Maybe. My iPod is nearly always on random shuffle across all music and audio recordings. One of the ways I feel calibrated is when I consistently make correct calls without context on my iPod shuffle (e.g., long-term success rate on BLGR vs. DICK). So, I hit pause and sure enough - Eastern Meadowlark. I decided I was going to claim it.

So, my question is how unusual are EAME NFCs? Anything I'm not thinking of that is possible and extremely similar (besides WEME)? The Evans/O'Brien CD summarizes, "Primarily a nocturnal migrant but engages in limited resumed migration. Gives flight call regularly while perched and in flight during the day. Rarely gives flight call in nocturnal migration." We do, in fact, hear this call regularly from migrant meadowlarks on Assateague Island, and it is getting to be that time. The vast majority of my records on the island are from October and November.

The other possible explanation, of course, is that local birds move around pre-dawn. While listening very late/early this spring, I'd hear local bluebirds calling overhead that I didn't end up thinking were actually migrating.

Very interested in any thoughts. Thanks!

Bill
 
Bill Hubick
Pasadena, Maryland
http://www.billhubick.com
http://www.marylandbiodiversity.com
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