>What plumage? ... I am curious about just how rare alternate-plumage
>really is here.

Still in basic plumage, judging from the whitish throat and eyeline.
This bird had a more noticable rusty cap than the one I saw in January
1996, though. I'll admit to being familiar only with the eastern
birds in alternate plumage, which are much more yellow overall.

Hard to say if this bird is a migrant, or if it's been hanging around
at Freddy's all winter. They're one of the earliest warblers to
migrate in the east, but March still seems early.

Eric Kraig
Olympia, WA
kraig at wln.com