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Lark Sparrows and other grassland birds - and Swainson's Warblers



Last week we conducted a grassland bird inventory on Fort Bragg Drop Zones,
Landing Zones, Firing Points, and recently acquired agricultural areas.
Among the regular mix of Loggerhead Shrikes, Horned Larks, Eastern
Kingbirds, and other grassland things; we found a Baltimore Oriole, a Willow
Flycatcher, and several singing and/or breeding Lark Sparrows.  The Lark
Sparrows were restricted to Camp Mackall (Scotland County) only.  I will
forward more details to the Chat.  I intend to survey these Army properties
more thoroughly this breeding season.  I will post my findings.  

I would greatly appreciate anyone sharing their knowledge of local
distributions of this bird, especially recent information about breeding on
properties other than the Camp Mackall drop zones.

With very interesting timing, I just received the Birds of North America
publication on the Lark Sparrow several days ago.  I see that they captured
the North Carolina breeding information. 

On an unrelated note, I just began the Fort Bragg point counts, and picked
up a singing Swainson's Warbler in a snow damaged Sandhills Streamhead
pocosin, where I have never had them previously.  The vegetation has been
completely flattened in many of these narrow pocosins (we had 20 inches
here), making them even more impenetrable than normal.  On this site where
Swainson's was singing, the previously dense midstory was knocked down in
places, producing small gaps and a very nice heterogeneous structural mix.
I am anxious to see what other differences I may find over the next month's
surveys.  Has anyone else noticed any similar changes in pocosin habitats
and/or birds? 


Alan Schultz
Nongame and Small Game Program
Fort Bragg Wildlife