Among the many Horned Larks, Snow Buntings, and one Lapland Longspur at Jones Beach West End (lawn between boat basin pavilion and gazebo) was a very unusual lark. In terms of structure and overall plumage pattern, it was clearly a Horned Lark, but its face and breast were suffused with an intense, rubescent tone (adjective inspired by alternate-plumaged American Pipit). This deep, pink-cinnamon color was visible throughout the face and upper breast, but yellow was still obvious through it in the rear supercilium and throat. The bird showed less black than most female HOLA on the face and breast crescent, and it appeared slightly smaller than the numerous adjacent northern alpestris (and some praticola and hoyti candidates). I don't know if this is simply an odd variant or consistent with an unfamiliar extralimital population of this widespread and variable species.
In an example of GTTI (gross tag-team ineptitude), Pat had left her phone home today and I left mine in the car, so we had no means of getting photos. We went back later and I got some very distant shots before the flock flushed yet again and the focal bird vanished (as the LALO had also). Given the amount of photographic attention this flock has been getting, perhaps there are good photos out there. Shai Mitra Bay Shore -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
