Hello Brad, Tim and Tweets,

Our personal Hermit Warbler records in the Capitol Forest have been all of
"pure" birds,but the chance of hybrids in this area could exists. We have
encountered hybrids between Hermit and Townsend's Warbler only from a few
location primarily in the Packwood and White Pass areas in Lewis Co.,where
both species overlap very closely. Our only record from the Green Mountain
area occurred on the 18th of May,1996 of a "pure" adult male that was not
singing and attracted to a Northern Saw-whet Owl in the upper portion east
of Tahuya Lake. 3 Hermit/Townsend's Warblers were also detected at this
location on the same date. In addition we have encountered a "pure" Hermit
Warbler while searching for dragonflies near Wood Lake in August 2005,which
is about 15 miles southwest of Green Mountain. The bird was amongst a mixed
flock of other passerines and most likely a migrant at this location. To add
"pure" Hermit Warblers and intergrades are known from Walker Mountain
accessed off of Hwy.101 south of Quilcene in Jefferson Co.

Sincerely,

Ruth and Patrick Sullivan

----- Original Message -----
From: "Brad Waggoner" <wagtail at sounddsl.com>
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2007 7:40 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] Re: Capitol Forest Hermit Warblers


> Hi Tim and fellow tweets,
>
> I am really curious as to the status of Hermit Warblers in Western
> Washington south of Kitsap County. It would really be interesting to know
> how many "pure" Hermit Warblers are being found as one travels further
> south.. I wonder how many HETOs (Hermit X Townsend's hybrids) are amongst
> the population down there in Grays Harbor County and other places.
>
> I can tell you from my experience here in the western part of Kitsap
> County, specifically at Green Mountain the last four years, that I have
> yet to find a pure male Hermit Warbler. Yes, I know, a few hardcore county
> listers have probably "ticked-off" Hermit Warbler on their Kitsap County
> list in the Green Mountain area, but I would speculate that they likely
> had a HETO. I am sure I am in trouble now. George Gerdts and I had a
> female bird on May 22, 2005 that had all field marks that would indicate
> it was a pure Hermit Warbler. All territorial male birds resembling Hermit
> Warbler that responded to playback over these four years had some hybrid
> plumage characteristics.
>
> There is an excellent article in the August 2001 Birding that deals with
> HETO Warblers in the Pacific Northwest. Terrific pictures portray some of
> the plumages of HETO warblers. Most obvious on the birds at Green mountain
> were some degree of streaking in the mid and lower flanks and some degree
> of yellow below the black bib for birds appearing to be Hermit Warblers.
>
> Cheers and good birding,
>
> Brad Waggoner
> Bainbridge Island, WA
> mailto:wagtail at sounddsl.com
>
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