Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Tennessee Warbler

I went birding at Heritage Park today and I saw a Tennessee Warbler.  It was pale yellow all over except underneath its tail, which was white.  It had a pale eyebrow stripe, dark eyes, a small bill, and light grayish wings.  Literally the only other thing it could have been confused with was a Yellow Warbler and I know it wasn't that, I made sure to mark down all the field marks.  I submitted it to eBird and I know they're going to email me and contradict it.  This happened over the summer with a Yellow-Bellied Flycatcher and I didn't argue because I wasn't the one to ID it, and my flycatcher ID isn't all that great anyway.  This little fellow, I am quite sure about, however.  I know it's late in the season and they're not incredibly common in Southwest Virginia, but I know what I saw and I'm sticking to it.  Too bad I don't have a camera... it'll have to go on my Christmas wish list I suppose. There's really no way for me to prove what I saw except with a picture, so I'll try to go back with a borrowed camera tomorrow, but I highly doubt it will be there.  On the bright side, there was a huge flock of Cedar Waxwings in a nearby tree that made for a lovely observation session.  That's the second flock I've seen in as many days.  I just love those little darlings.  I'm still shrike-less I'm afraid.  I've tried going to where one was reported, I've tried going to places where Shrike habitat is ideal, it's all just in vain.  Someday...my little Loggerhead friend will be mine.  Ah, the joys of list hunting.  I've wasted far too much time picking apart the details of a Tennessee Warbler for one evening; off to finish my chem lab report.  Please believe me, eBird, I did not make this decision hastily!

No comments:

Post a Comment