Birders,

The following account of a PINE WARBLER in Moscow, Idaho by
Charles Swift (listowner of INLAND-NW-BIRDERS) will no doubt cause
some jaws to drop, as it did for me. As far as I can determine, there
are no records of Pine Warbler for B.C. or Washington, and only one
for Oregon (in Curry County, which ornithologically ought to be part
of California.) So even if you WA and OR birders can't count it for
your home state list, it may be a life bird for some of you. Let's
hope the warbler sticks around for awhile.
Congratulations to everyone involved in finding and identifying
this bird. It is definitely a mega-rarity in the Pacific Northwest,
and probably one of few that have turned up in the Moscow area!

Wayne C. Weber
Kamloops, B.C.
wayne_weber at bc.sympatico.ca


-----Original Message-----
From: Charles Swift <charless at moscow.com>
To: inland-NW-birders at uidaho.edu <inland-NW-birders at uidaho.edu>;
siba at egroups.com <siba at egroups.com>
Date: Friday, December 10, 1999 11:37 AM
Subject: Pine Warbler in Moscow


>Birders -
>
>Bettie and Ray Hoff, birders here in Moscow, have had a Pine Warbler
>visiting their feeder since at least Tuesday, 12/7. I had a brief but
>decent look at it last evening and Kas Dumroese and I had extended
looks at
>it this morning. It appears to be a male, possibly an immature
although
>this is not certain. It has a light yellow throat and upper breast,
some
>faint duskiness on the sides of the breast and flanks, and white
undertail
>coverts. It has yellow lores and a broken pale yellow eye ring, the
>auricular (area around the ear) is set off by the throat and some
dusky
>yellow feathers extending from the sides of the neck toward the nape,
>upperparts are olive, and it has two white wing bars. It has been
visiting
>a seed feeder and is often seen lightly pumping its tail (behaviors
>consistent with Pine Warblers). Pine Warblers do have a pattern of
vagrancy
>in the west and when they do show up in the northern plains or
Rockies in
>the winter are often at feeders. It is very likely (but not
guaranteed!)
>that this bird will stick around for a while. This may be the first
Idaho
>record for Pine Warbler.
>
>The Hoffs are happy to have birders visit but if you are coming from
a
>distance you might want to check ahead (you can email Bettie
at"Bettie J.
>Hoff" <Hoff697 at Turbonet.com>). The bird seems to be most reliable
starting
>at about 9:30 and has been visiting throughout the day after that. We
had
>the best looks from inside the house but it is probably possible to
see it
>from the edges of the yard. I'll be home this evening if anyone wants
to
>call for information (but will be birding around Lewiston tomorrow).
We've
>also got reliable Common Redpolls around and could probably locate
some
>other goodies (e.g. Bewick's Wren) for visiting birders.
>
>Thanks, Charles.
>=========================
> Charles E. Swift
> Moscow, Idaho
> charless at moscow.com
>******************************************
>