Lark Bunting!

 Sarah and I spent a wonderful couple of days birding the farms and coastal areas of Tillamook County. The highlight birds included a Rock Sandpiper, Tropical Kingbirds (perching near the barn above), and a Swamp Sparrow. 

The most unexpected bird, however was this immature male Lark Bunting, a pretty rare species in Oregon, at Bayocean Spit. 

We were following a tip on a Lapland Longspur and it turned out to be a bunting. It perched conspicuously on the branches of shrubs and foraged on the upper and lower spit roads. It was by far the coolest bird we have ever seen in ten years of birding this area.