ML36995331
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
Observation details
Upon arriving around 8:30am I went down into the sedges and grasses of the lake to search for birds. Bird activity was almost non-existent so I turned my attention to the bank of willows that run along the north side of the meadow of the main lake basin. While scanning along the edge of the mud I noticed a small bird moving about within a willow thicket. The thicket was largely leafless but fairly dense so it only afforded partial views of the bird. From what I could make out I could clearly see a dark eye line that extended from the gape through the eye back toward the nape and a pale supercilium above it. My initial impression of the facial pattern was that of a Philadelphia Vireo but the bird remained buried in the vegetation affording limited views. Sensing that this was something unusual I began attempting to take photographs to see if I could capture more details. It was about at this point that Dorian Anderson walked up and began observing the bird with me. As it moved about I was eventually able to see that there was no yellow on the throat or flanks and that the overall coloration was very drab and even somewhat brownish. I continued to think it was a vireo owing to its very slow methodical foraging in the willows and weeds no higher than a few feet off the ground. At one point it actually dropped down from the willow growth onto the ground where we had shorty but decent unobstructed views of it. Overall it was very warbler like in shape and appearance and Dorian suggested it was a Palm Warbler. I didn't think it was a Palm due to the lack of yellow in the undertail area and absence of any streaks on the breast or flanks. As we watched the bird did drop on the ground a few times. I didn't see the bird bob its tail like a Palm so we began to doubt it was one after all. We continued watching and photographing the bird over the course of about 10 minutes (8:50-9:00 am) as it moved in and out of the weeds and willows. It emerged from the dense vegetation a couple of times out in the open in good sunlight where we got good photos of it. Overall my impression was of buffy unstreaked underparts and gray to gray-brown upperparts. No wingbars or other markings could be seen. The only really distinguishing features were the dark eye line, a bicolored bill, and buffy supercilium. The legs also seemed to be a dingy yellow color. Reviewing the photos I'd taken I also could see a faint white eye arc beneath the eye. Dorian and I continued kicking around ideas about identification after we lost the bird. The calls the bird made were puzzling. It was not making chip calls like a Palm. My impression of the calls were of a "chap" a bit lower than a Lincoln's Sparrow but higher than a Hermit Thrush. The sounds to me were more sparrow like yet the bird did not resemble any sparrow or warbler I was familiar with. It was Dorian who first suggested the possibility of a Dusky Warbler. I'm always reluctant to identify a bird as a rarity without good evidence. He fortunately had his phone with him and we listened to recordings of Dusky calls which were very similar to what we had just heard. At that point we became comfortable with the ID of the bird as a Dusky Warbler. I called Brian Daniels (who was birding the park at the time) and he came in to look for the bird. He, Brian Leatherman, and Andrew Lazere managed to see and hear the bird at about 9:30 near where Dorian and I had seen it. Brian confirmed the ID as Dusky.
Technical information
- Model
- E-510
- ISO
- 200
- Focal length
- 500 mm
- Flash
- Flash did not fire
- f-stop
- f/7.1
- Shutter speed
- 1/200 sec
- Dimensions
- 2200 pixels x 1650 pixels
- Original file size
- 1.01 MB