Snow Buntings, a Lapland Longspur, and Greater White-fronted Geese ~ December 14, 2025

Because of last night's snowfall, I decided to check out some of the open areas for field birds. I went to Graver's Hill and found about 75 Horned Larks in the wind-blown snow.

Horned Lark

In the field along S. Delps Road, I noticed 7 Snow Buntings. I got some flight photos of them as they flew over and joined the Horned Larks.

Snow Buntings in flight.

They then fed along the edge of the standing corn where the Horned Larks were.

A first-winter male Snow Bunting.

Snow Buntings along S. Oaks Road.

When some of the Horned Larks landed on the road, one of the Snow Buntings briefly joined them.

Snow Bunting on S. Oaks Road.

They eventually flew back across S. Delps Road and landed in the same field that I found them in. That's when a guy on a loud ATV came up the road and flushed them. As they took off and I tried to get more flight photos, I very briefly noticed one smaller bird with them, which made me think it might be a Lapland Longspur. I tried following it in my camera but unfortunately lost track of it in some similar-colored background. I spent a while searching for it but never refound that bird. When I got home and put the photos on my computer screen, I realized that I actually had gotten some photos of it among the Snow Buntings. Despite being blurry, there was no question that it was a Lapland Longspur!

A Lapland Longspur (top) with 2 Snow Buntings, a female (left), and a male (right).

A Lapland Longspur with a Snow Bunting. This photo shows the white tail corners on the longspur.

A Lapland Longspur with a male Snow Bunting. This photo shows the dark streaks on the sides and the flanks.

A Lapland Longspur showing the rufous wing patches bordered with white, the light-colored head, and the notched tail.

I made a couple stops on the way back home. The first was the Regency Boulevard retention ponds. Both were mostly frozen and devoid of birds. The only notable bird there was an American Kestrel perched on a wire at Steuben Road.

With Green Pond frozen, I continued to the Church Road pond to see if the 8 Greater White-fronted Geese that I found there yesterday were still there. I did find five of them among the 250 Canada Geese and 26 Mallards.

Five Greater White-fronted Geese.

I sent out a text about the White-fronteds and went home to warm up.

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