A long expected update

Things were pretty slow for awhile.  I like being in a section of the state that is lightly birded and geographically distinct from what most Kansans bird.  However, it has been torture seeing all the reports of Spring migrants from the East and having to wait until they show up here.
Well, long story short, they have started to show up.  My wife told me to bird yesterday (Yes, she told me to bird!  You have to love a wife like that!) and got a few first of the Springs.  I saw my first flock of migratory sparrows.  There wasn't anything new for the year, but it was nice to see Savannah, Song, American Tree, White-crowned, and White-throated together.  I also got my first Loggerhead (#109) of the year.  I didn't see any Loggerheads in the county during the winter.  I saw one in December in Phillips County but not a one in Rooks.
Common Grackles also showed up in force yesterday, adding their dulcet tones to the Spring symphony.  They were my first for the county for the year, but I saw a small flock down in Pawnee County this past weekend (#106).  I also got my first Eastern Meadowlark (#105) for the year at Ft. Larned.
Speaking of meadowlarks, they are starting to frustrate me.  I had a potential Eastern in Rooks yesterday that had a perfect malar pattern for Eastern.  The bird never sang (as far as I could tell), but was calling and rattling.  I know the meadowlark songs, but I need to get more knowledgable about the other sounds they emit.  The bird was probably an Eastern, but seeing that it would be a county bird, I'm not willing to call it.
Anyways, I also got Northern Shoveler (#107) and Wilson's Snipe (#108) in the past week.  So yeah, it's been a good week for year-birds.
By the way, I am dying to see Chestnut-collared Longspur and McCown's Longspur.  The Chestnut-collared surely pass through Rooks every year, and I wouldn't be surprised if McCown's does close to every year.  I just haven't seen any longspur-like birds.  I'm used to seeing huge groups of Laplands lift off the ground, do their little party in the air, land again, and take off again.  I will most likely not see these other longspurs in those numbers, but I've been on the lookout.  I also get frustrated by reading others' reports of flyovers.  Everyone is identifying these birds in the air.  Part of my job is to have a good ear, and to me, the longspur calls are very similar, easy to mix up if someone just hears them out in the field a time or two.  I'm sure some of the id's are legit, but I'm skeptical as to whether most of them are.