Subject: 3 warblers in Tofino
Date: Nov 12 20:28:34 1995
From: Donald Cecile - dcecile at cln.etc.bc.ca


For those who remember the last posting of 7 warblers in Tofino, we went
down to 6 as the TEnnessee warbler turned out to be an Orange-crowned
"celata". On November twelve, it was possible to find three species of
warblers in Tofino. The most difficult to locate was the Yellow-rumped.
There must have been some around but I couldn't find any! There is still
one Orange-crowned Warbler in town and an unbelievably
late Yellow Warbler! THis same bird has survived all week and at least
two frosts. THis bird is an adult male still showing much of
it's marroon breast stripes. It is more than one month later than any
Yellow warbler I have ever seen here on the west coast. I imagine that
even souther Calif. birders are having trouble finding Yellows at this time.
THis yellow warbler is a particularly bright individual, perhaps owing to
the fact that it is an adult male. I briefly considered the possibility
that it may be an eastern Yellow "aestiva"(since eastern warblers do show up
this
time of year and one would easily overlook such a possibility) However,
I did not feel that it qualified since the nape and crown were definitely
greener than the breast. So that leaves either "amnicola" of central BC
or "rubiginosa" of south and coastal BC but then again there is
"morcomi"....I'm lost! I think it was a Yellow Warbler....

Other interesting sightings include a Swamp Sparrow, Canvasbacks (locally
rare), A.Pipit and 2170 Buffleheads. THe latter were frequently hunted
by bald eagles. I guess when the salmon are done, buffleheads are a
target.

good birding,

dcecile at cln.etc.bc.ca