We made the drive up to Kossuth County this morning to look for Smith's Longspurs. The corner of 270th St. and 120th Ave, as Matt Kenne previously posted, was loaded with longspurs.
There were several large flocks of LAPLAND LONGSPURS, easily 300+. We also flushed several small flocks of SMITH'S LONGSPURS rather quickly. However, it took some time before seeing one perched! At least 50 were present.
However, 2 CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPURS were most notable. We first keyed onto these 2 birds by the distinctive flight call. I got a decent look at the tail pattern as they circled us a few times before joining a different flock of longspurs. We were unable to relocate them.
Here is a SMITH'S LONGSPUR in flight:
