Lapland Longspurs Calcarius lapponicus are a cool bird anywhere, and can be a tough year bird in Pierce County. Yesterday afternoon the WhatsApp group for Pierce County let me know that Craig Miller has found a small flock at the gravel lot above Wilson Way, and a bit later Marcus Roening found a flock of 9 birds there. I headed over and got there at the same time as Bruce LaBar. Marcus was still there, and he quickly got us on the birds as they crept along the tall grass on the west edge of the parking lot. We got great looks as they snuck along, seeming to step on grass blades to bring the seeds down to their level. Photos were challenging as they rarely came into the open, but I persisted and got a few decent shots.
This was a FOY bird for me in the state except for one fly-by with Charlie the day prior at the point on Dune, when he helped me recognize what I had heard fly by unseen. This was needless to say much more satisfying. I think it is the largest group of LALO I’ve seen other than in Alaska decades ago.

Although Lapland Longspurs are uncommon in fall and winter here, in the Arctic they are often the most abundant breeding landbird, and between the Rockie Mountains and the Great Lakes from southern Canada to Okalhoma they can be abundant in the right habitat. Per Birds of the World their non-breeding habitat is described as, “Prairies, open weedy and grassy fields, grain stubbles, shores, and any open ground with no or light snow cover providing access to seed.” They breed in the Arctic in wet and vegetated dryer areas, generally more densely vegetated than the habitat preferred by Snow Buntings. They nest on the ground in slightly excavated areas in dense vegetation and line their nest usually with fur or feathers, laying 3-7 eggs and the eggs hatch after only 10-13 days of incubation, and although born altrical (eyes closed and naked) they fledge in only 8-11 days and don’t fly for a few days after leaving the nest.
It’s always a good day for me in WA when I see a Lapland Longspur, and to see at least 7 today (others counted 9) was extraordinary.