Subject: [Tweeters] Mercer Island - Nashville Warbler
Date: Apr 19 21:35:01 2015
From: Joshua Glant - josh.n.glant at gmail.com


Hello Tweets,


The birding gods are really paying me back after I dipped on the
Black-throated Blue Warbler! They gave me a real treat today.


After a hectic but successful pancake breakfast for my Boy Scout troop this
morning, I came home to enjoy my afternoon. I planned on maybe visiting
Luther Burbank Park. First, I checked Tweeters. I read about a trip to
Lincoln, Whitman and Adams counties, and also about Mr. Hobbs? visit to
Marymoor park. Both mentioned a special bird: the Nashville Warbler.
?Wouldn?t it be nice to see one of those,? I thought. I have never before
seen a Nashville, and I hoped to maybe see one on the east side of the
Cascades this summer.


I stepped outside, and was surprised to hear the chips of many
Yellow-rumped Warblers! They are normally a scarce bird in my yard, with
maybe 1-2 sightings each year. But today, they were all over! So I came
outside and sat on the patio steps, enjoying the sun, watching the warblers
and caressing my cat. Two Steller?s Jays collected nest material right near
me, and a male House Finch (also rare in our yard, though they?re common
just across the forest) visited our feeder.


That was when I noticed a small bird right in front of me, investigating a
leaf cluster. At first, I thought it was a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, but then I
could see the gray head and yellow throat from where I sat. My mind briefly
flicked to a female Northern Parula, but I knew it wasn?t that. When I got
my binoculars on the bird, what else did I see but a thick white eyering!
?Nashville Warbler!? I called out excitedly to my dad, who was also sitting
in the sun. The warbler fluttered to another branch, then flew higher into
the canopy. I got good views, and a few diagnostic documentation photos,
which I am happy about; this bird was moving about a lot! They?re not the
clearest, but I still like them, because the show a very special bird.


I only briefly saw the crown and didn?t note the color, so I don?t know
what sex this bird was, but I think I?ll call it male arbitrarily just
because it seemed pretty bright; it could have been a female, though,
because when I did see the crown I didn?t notice any red. I did see the
bird?s tail wagging, so I know that it was the expected western or
Calaveras subspecies.


The bird disappeared into the canopy, and I skipped away happily. A
Nashville Warbler in my yard! I had just been thinking about this bird, and
how I wanted to see one. And here was one, right here in my backyard!

Here?s a photo I got (The bird is in the center right, clinging to a branch
and looking downward):
https://www.flickr.com/photos/132642556 at N03/16996949627/


It?s my theory that this warbler fallout in my yard was a mini-version of
the one that happened at Frenchmans Bar Park on the Columbia River; that
is, a rarer warbler was travelling among a horde of Yellow-rumps. I?m so
lucky that a warbler fallout brought a Nashville Warbler to my yard! It is
my fourth self-found rarity, of which two have been in my yard, and three
out of four have been warblers (American Redstart, Palm and now Nashville)!


Later today, at 6:04 PM, I encountered another warbler fallout in Pioneer
Park. I didn?t have my binoculars, but among the singing and calling
Yellow-rumps this time was an interesting chip note. I?m thinking
Black-throated Gray, but I don?t know. What do you think?
http://www.xeno-canto.org/236736


Over the moon all over again, Joshua Glant


Mercer Island, WA


Josh.n.glant at gmail.com
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