Spent today looking for migrants and hoping for vagrants. Started off
birding around Vantage where it was quite slow and people camped everywhere,
so not much in the way of birds. The best sighting at Wanapum Dam State Park
was a group of 6 Yellow Warbler.

Arrived at Washtucna and Bassett Park about 10:30. On the hillside things
were fairly active, especially in the empid department.
Notables included:
A flock of 19 Wild Turkey
Warblers:
10+ Wilson's Warbler
3 Townsend's Warbler
2 Orange-crowned Warbler

Flycatchers:
1 Olive-sided Flycatcher
2 Western Wood Pewee
3 Hammond's Flycatcher
2 Dusky Flycatcher
1 Gray Flycatcher
1 Least Flycatcher
1 Pacific-slope type: The bird did not call, typical strong dark olive green
with the tear-dropped shaped eye ring. I suspect either Pac-slope or Cord
are possible here, so left it as type.
The majority of these flycatchers were almost at the end of the row of trees
on the hillside, just before one would reach the fence. This many empids
provided a great study, in the Hammond's both first fall birds and an adult
was represented.

On the Lyons ferry next, arriving about 1:00.
The majority of the bird activity was at the base of the walkway out to the
island and one the islands themselves.
WILSON'S WARBLERS were in good abundance with 15-20 noted. I counted at
least 6 different TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS as well. In the grassy area just
before the island walkway there were 3 immature spizella sparrows. I
identified them as 2 CHIPPING SPARROWS and a BREWER'S SPARROW.
In the willows here a single LINCOLN'S SPARROW was pished up.
Out on the island I watched a female RED-BREASTED MERGANSER flyover.

The biggest mystery about 3:00 as I was watching a flock of 7-8
Orange-crowned Warblers move through the same area as previously mentioned
for the sparrows.
I observed a bird that had characteristics of both an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER
(Celata) and a TENNESSEE WARBLER, I'm really not sure on this bird, but
based on field marks which I'll explain below have to lean towards
Orange-crowned.
This bird was side by side with OCWA's, structure makes it VERY hard for me
to go totally in the OCWA camp as the bird had a noticeably shorter tail
projection than any of the other OCWA (the tail rects appeared to be uniform
so while a growing in tail is still possible seems unlikely). The bird had a
VERY strong pale supercilium. Throat was pale and lighter than breast. The
head was a pale gray. The bird was fairly greenish on its back and very gray
breast (picture plumbeous vireo breast). However the bird had strong
yellowish under tail coverts, which I don't see any possible way a TEWA
could have such.
This bird just doesn't seem to fit anything. The closest I can come up with
is an odd first fall celata Orange-crowned Warbler, but don't know how to
explain the very short tail projection or even that the plumage doesn't
entirely fit. The other VERY oddball thought that maybe somebody knows an
answer to is have there been records of TEWA X OCWA celata hybrids before?
I'd love to hear somebody's opinion on it. Ultimately it will have to go
down as an odd unknown I'm afraid, but sure is a puzzler. Arguments against
OCWA include the brighter green back color, I don't usually find that in
first fall celata. The tail projection is just hard to fit into OCWA and the
supercilium while still possible for celata is at the very far end of the
range, it was extremely noticeable and very pale. Arguments against TEWA,
structure except for tail projection just didn't fit. I've only breeding
plumaged TEWA's but in all the references a gray head and gray breast don't
match for a fall TEWA. Ok, I'll stop rambling here, if you have any ideas
I'd welcome them, you can reply on or offline.

Scott Downes
downess at charter.net
Yakima WA