Hello Josh and all,

Actually none of us should be seeing Yellow Warblers yet in migration at
this point in early April here in the Puget Sound area. Their normal
arrival date is early May with a few early ones showing up in late
April. There are very few well documented records prior to mid-April for
this species.

That said, a freakishly early Yellow Warbler is not out of the question.
But, of course, a few folks like me that attempt to track the bird
records of Washington I (through WOS data base, North American Birds, or
eBird) need to make every attempt to gather exceptional documentation on
sight reports such as this one. With global climate change certainly we
are going to see changes and likely earlier arrival times of some
migratory species. But as record-keepers we still need to be certain
that the reports are not at all in question so we can fully track and
document these changes. It is quite the challenging task as us birders
are more often than not, quite confident in our identifications.

In a perfect world, I would have every birder here in Washington have a
copy of A Birder's Guide to Washington (the newly released second
edition) at their side. And, further I would love it if they had the bar
graphs book marked and at the ready. If you happen to have a copy of
this wonderful publication, I would encourage all to take a look at some
of the species that have not arrived yet on scene and note when to
expect them based on these graphs. The same can be done by checking the
species maps in eBird. If you note something that would be significantly
early then our task is made much easier if great notes are taken, or
better yet, if photos are obtained.

Cheers and good birding,

Brad Waggoner
Bainbridge Island, Washington



Subject: FOY Yellow Warbler at Discovery Park
Date: Mon Apr 4 2016 19:07 pm
From: coralliophila AT live.com

Probably you've all been seeing these for a while now, but my wife and I
spotted a Yellow Warbler on the north side of the large meadow at
Discovery Park today, gleaning from the beautifully blooming apple tree
next to the (equally beautiful) dogwoods. Another was singing a couple
of trees further back, but we got no looks at that one.

Other than that, all the usual suspects at Discovery Park. Mostly,
though, it was a gorgeous day, so even the regular ol' song sparrows,
towhees, and hummingbirds are enough to make it worthwhile.

Josh in Licton Springscoralliophila at live dot com

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