Hey all-

I'm new to Tweeters. Name is Jesse Ellis, and I'll be moving out
here for the summer and fall, living in Seattle.

First things first:

Yesterday around 9:30 am Anya Illes and I found a PALM WARBLER at
Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge.. The bird was only seen briefly,
and we could not refind it after the initial sighting. The bird was
seen on the northern part of the Dike Loop trail, well west of the
Observation tower, and just east of the area that is designated a
Sanctuary for birds. (This area has a road heading south into the
refuge but is chained off).

We were birding the hedges along the dikes, which held really high
numbers of Audubon's Warblers, and good numbers of Orange-crowned and
Wilson's.

Description: I saw the bird from back-on, getting a look at
tail-coverts, the back of the head, and then the face when it looked
at me from the side. The first obvious feature was the rufous cap on
the head, which was the first thing I saw when I found the bird.
Undertail coverts were yellow. When the bird looked to the left I
was able to see a yellow supercilium, a dark eyeline and a yellow
under-eye arc. There was a dark cheek patch and a yellow throat
(from what I could see at that angle). Eye was dark. The bill was
pointed and dark, but not as fine as the many Orange-crowned that
were in the area. Wings/back seemed olive-yellow but from the angle
I did not have a great look. Then it moved forward through the bush
and we lost it.

Potential mistake and how I rule them out - NASHVILLE WARBLER - This
is your standard western warbler with rufous on the head. Severeal
features rule out Nashville readily - the extent of rufous was far
too great for a Nashville Warbler, which would have a rufous spot
contained within a grey field on the head. There was no grey on the
head or face, and the bill was too heavy for a Vermivora in my
experience.

Orange-crowned Warbler - The color of the head cap was wrong for an
Orange-crowned, and the scope of the brown on the cap too great. The
bright yellow supercilium and heavy bill are also features not found
on an Orange-crowned Warbler.

I apologize for not getting this out instantly, but I'm just getting
here and our internet was not working properly.

Also...

As a long-time denizen of birding list-servs, I understand that it's
always a little awkward when a total unknown posts a good bird. Do
you look? Do you write it off? I hope folks will check, though the
birds there were hard to track. Some credentials - I've birded in
Minnesota, where I grew up, for many years. I got some experience
out here when I went to college at Lewis & Clark College, and am now
a grad student at Cornell university, and doing a lot of birding
there. If anyone has more questions (which I'm sure you will, I'm
writing this prety quickly since I've gotta catch a bus...) please
let me know.

Jesse
--
Jesse Ellis, Ph. D. candidate
Neurobiology and Behavior
jme29 at cornell.edu
111 Mudd Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, 14853

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