NM - Three Longspurs at Three Sisters - 02/03/13

What appeared to be 'just' a decent sized flock of Horned Larks turned out to contain plenty of gems. The more we looked at the flock, the more we discovered. The best method was just to sit back and let the birds come to us as the flock was easily flushed and could often take a while to settle. We ended up with about 15 each of Chestnut-collared and McCown's Longspurs and a single, rather unexpected, Lapland Longspur. This session provided a rare opportunity to see multiple species of longspur alongside each other in their rather challenging non-breeding plumages.

As it happened, unknown to us at the time, one or two Lapland Longspurs had already been reported from this exact location. The site was at the end of Three Sisters Road on the western shore of Elephant Butte Lake, just south of South Monticillo Point, Sierra County, New Mexico.

Chesnut-collared Longspurs - Three Sisters Point, Elephant Butte Lake, Sierra Co., NM. February 3rd, 2013. 
Digi-scoped shot using Panasonic Lumix FZ7 and Swarovski scope.

 Lapland Longspur - Three Sisters Point, Elephant Butte Lake, Sierra Co., NM. February 3rd, 2013. 

Digi-scoped shot using Panasonic Lumix FZ7 and Swarovski scope.



McCown's Longspurs - Three Sisters Point, Elephant Butte Lake, Sierra Co., NM. February 3rd, 2013. 
Digi-scoped shot using Panasonic Lumix FZ7 and Swarovski scope.