ML33156751

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

This Bay-breasted Warbler is in very drab plumage, for such an early in the season migrant. The first impression I had was Bay-breasted, especially due to the very pointy bill, and very long undertail coverts which seem buffy and not stark white. I saw no salmon on the flanks, and never saw the top of the warbler (in BBWA it would be streaked to some degree). I can rule out Pine Warbler due to long undertail covers/short tail, wrong bill shape, and very contrasty wing-bars. The warbler that presents the biggest ID challenge with a bird that looks like this is a Blackpoll. I think that Blackpoll Warbler can be ruled out since due to the non-white undertail coverts, and really no defined streaking. That said, there is some blurry streaking on the upper chest that gives me pause--but, I do think BBWA can demonstrate this look. See my photos of a brighter BBWA that shows some blurry streaking in this image, and the ones surrounding it on my Flickr stream: https://www.flickr.com/photos/hcmerker/9828614484/in/dateposted-public/ Also, there is no defined contrast between the legs and feet, but this could just be lighting and bad photos. However, the legs look solid gray in one image where the leg is in the shadow (no yellow feet). I think the bird I saw had more of a whitish throat (better for BBWA), but hard to tell due to lighting.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 7D

ISO

400

Focal length

420 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

Shutter speed

1/500 sec

Dimensions

1650 pixels x 1437 pixels

Original file size

961.71 KB