hi everyone,
sorry i did not post about this earlier. i was the person that was with
collin when we found the weird warbler on queen anne. i just wanted to
share some of the things that i observed about the warbler. first of all,
it did call two times. the song was not anything that i recognized though.
i am not familiar with the songs of any eastern warblers, but it certainly
didnt sound like any of the warblers that live in washington state. i wish
i could have been able to place the call on something, or at least describe
it. i agree that this would be a great way to figure out at least one of
the parents that raised the individual and narrow it down to a much more
limited outcome.

there were a couple behavioral things and field marks that arent noticable
from the photos. for behavior, it seemed very unactive compared to the
other warblers in the area and most warblers in general(could just be the
individual). in the half hour that we observed it only switched the branch
that it was feeding on once or twice, and remained fairly low in the tree
foraging within a very small area. it also did not pump or fan its tail. i
did not see any real characteristic behaviors in this bird. as for field
marks, there were a couple of things. it is only seeable on one photo, but
the bird had a clear black cap that was at least as dark as its throat.
also it did not show any yellow or orange on the base of the upper side of
the tail that should be seen in an american redstart. instead it was
completely dark. also the photos can be kind of misleading. some people
have stated that it appears short- tailed(i can see why in the photos) but
looking at it in person it appeared to have a long tail.

I went back with peter klein on sunday evening to try to hear it again with
no luck. peter also tried for it on monday morning with no luck. Although
the area does have a lot of birds(warblers, vireos, flycatchers, etc.) and
seems to be a great migrant trap.

Sam Riley
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