Ontbirders,
I sincerely hope this post is within bounds.If not, the delete button is a
simple clickety click away!
I wanted to summarize my observations of the warblers at Sedgewick Park in
Oakville over the last little while, based on what I have seen. I thought it
might prompt more discussion as to what exactly is going on at this very
special little haven.
I'll start by pointing out that I have been to view these warblers 7 times now,
since their discovery(mostly because I was dipping out on the Blackpoll).
Species were seen at different dates, at different times, temperatures, and
their behaviours have been modified on every visit. Probably due to food
availability, weather, etc.
I'll first talk about the Orange-crowned Warblers. As far as I know, there are
3 on site, and have all been documented. One bird, a possible western sub, the
other two are fairly drab. Let me be very clear, I have no experience with
Lutescens subspecies or the Orestra, at least to my knowledge. But I have seen
"our" northern boreal Celata on many occasions as I am sure many of us have.
What I can tell you just from plain observations of the Orange-crowned Warblers
at Sedgewick Park(because they tend to land in front of your face at times), is
that at least one of those birds, is just as "bright"(yellow, faintly greenish
too) as the Nashville Warbler that is also on site.Brighter than ANY
Orange-crowned Warbler I have seen while birding southern ontario. I normally
equate our(celata) Orange-crowned Warbler breeding males, as fairly drab
individuals,olive through green or bland yellow, though they can be what I
consider, to my mind, to be somewhat bright at times.
While viewing the warblers on January 1st, a VERY bright individual flew past
our group and landed only 10 M or so in a small thicket in front of us. I
automatically called out that it was one of the Orange-crowned Warblers because
the one we had seen on a few occasions was VERY BRIGHT.It is bright above and
it is bright underneath to the UTCs. Turns out it was the Nashville. My point
is that this particular Orange-crowned is VERY BRIGHT INDEED. Much brighter
than the other drab individuals here, and as I said, it appears to be bright
from top to bottom. This same bird actually posed for us and showed its orange
crown as well.
Moving on to the Nashville Warbler. I have also viewed this bird many times. It
is quite bright, but what strikes me as odd, is twofold:
1) On January 1st, this individual landed very close to our party. Not a minute
later, I commented to the group that it seemed to be bobbing its tail an awful
lot.Nothing I had EVER seen in this species. I made the joke that it appeared
to be a Palm Warbler in Nashville's clothing. And that is what it looked like.
That or a Waterthrush.........
2) This bird is quite bright, but another thing that struck me as odd is the
plumage. I understand it is in primary moult, so things are variable......but
the grey "hood" of this bird stretches down through the neck and goes about
half way down the back. Like an extended dark hood. Also, this bird shows very
bright underparts. There is some white near the legs and near the vent, but the
UTCs are also quite bright.
Lastly, I wanted to discuss the Blackpoll/Bay-breasted situation.
When I saw the "blackpoll" warbler the first time I was convinced it was just
that. However, my views were 3 seconds at a times, and were were chasing the
bird around the parkette as it was giving us a hard time. On Jan. 1st we noted
this bird again and had excellent looks. It was photographed well. I've looked
at the photos and can clearly see a faint green/grey smudge on the flanks. It
also has grey feet and dark legs. In the photos you can see a faint eyebrow. It
is faint though. It way well be a Bay-breast. Thing is, there was a Blackpoll
identified here in December, and it was seen by a lot of folks...so I believe
there isand still is an extremely strong possibility that another bird,a
Blackpoll is here too.
As late as today, I have spoken with experienced birders who have been on
site. One very experienced birder mentioned to me just today that what he saw,
was absolutely a Blackpoll.
For those that have seen the excellent pics circulating, one can see in the
"blackpoll/bay breat pics" that the forehead plumage is missing or damaged.
Others I have spoke with recently have not noted this defect.Something to
ponder.We may be looking at two different birds.
I hope this encourages discussion about these very special circumstances. I
would love to discuss this off-list through private e-mail.
Best to you,
Len Manning
Hamilton, ON
_______________________________________________
ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial
birding organization.
Send bird reports to [email protected]
For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
