ML619551435

Age and sex

Unknown age, Male - 1

Observation details

I began hearing the continuing warbler singing shortly after we arrived at the front loop of the campground, and shortly later Daniels located the singing bird moving about branches in the middle levels of what appeared to be a Torrey Pine in the northwestern part of the southern campground. We then followed this bird as best we could as it moved among the Torrey Pine, one or two Monterey Pines, and a Monterey Cypress along the eastern edge of the campground before it seemed to fly over to the peninsula to the east. Unable to relocate the warbler on the peninsula, we began working north through the campground and relocated the warbler singing in a pine and then a large eucalyptus tree in the southwestern part of the upper campground, where it remained for a short time before going quiet and disappearing. Continuing around the lagoon, we failed to locate the warbler in the northern, eastern, and southern quadrants of the lagoon, yet upon returning to the front campground, I again heard this bird singing and we again saw it in various pines at the north end of campground before to again went silent and we lost track of it. While under observation, this bird sang regularly, albeit with gaps of moderate length between songs, which made the warbler difficult to follow when combined with its constant movements, and at times with it flying moderate distances. The song was a sweet series of warbles that ended in a sharper series of elements that was reminiscent of the song of Yellow Warbler, but also unique for the avifauna at this location and readily identified even from a moderate distance. Oddly, I never certainly heard this bird call. We saw this bird foraging actively, mostly in pines, but also in cypress and eucalyptus trees, and exclusively in the upper half or so of each tree, amid which it foraged along the branches and among the needles. Despite this bird’s relatively active behavior, I never saw it sally. This was a medium-sized warbler that appeared roughly comparable in sise and structure to a Townsend’s Warbler, though I did think it had a rather large bill. The bill appeared to be relatively slim, straight, and tapering to a pointed tip, but I was unable to determine in the field its length relative to fieldmarks on the face. When seen from below, the forehead appeared to be sloping and the crown was rounded, but it was difficult to see the finer details of the head shape. My impression was that the head was unremarkable in size for a warbler, that the neck was short and inconspicuous, and that the body was relatively slim. I was wholly unable to discern in the field either the primary projection or the placement of the wingtips relative to the undertail coverts, but I thought the tail was of medium length for a warbler, and probably about comparable to the length of the body without the head and neck. I further thought the tail was parallel-sided the very slightly flared, and that it had a subtle notch at a tip that generally appeared square. I suspect I saw the legs and feet, but I cannot now remember anything about them. My views of this bird were from a distance at which I could see the overall patterns, but no so much the finer details, and given that I saw this bird exclusively from below, my views of the upperparts were not as good as those of the underparts. Most obvious on this bird was the bright, lemon-yellow that extended from the throat down onto the upper breast, where sharply demarcated from the white that extended from the idle of the breast down across the belly, flanks, and undertail coverts. Demarcating the yellow throat was a black mask that extended through the lores, across the auriculars, and at least to a degree down the sides of the neck to frame the throat. I was unable to see if the chin was white, but I could see what appeared to be two relatively narrow rows of blackish streaks running along the flanks, but the belly and undertail coverts were unmarked. The underside of the tail was mostly white, but the outer edges appeared to be narrowly framed darker. I did not think the tip of the tail was conspicuously dark, so there was no obvious suggestion of tail spots on a tail that extended well beyond the tips of the undertail coverts. Demarcating the black mask was a white supercilium that was narrow but sharply demarcated as it extended through the supraloral region, over the eye, and back along the upper edge of the auriculars, apparently to their rear terminus, it not even slightly beyond. I did not see any yellow in the supraloral region, but I could not be certain that it was lacking. Complementing the white supercilium was a narrow crescent of white below the eye. The upper edge of the supercilium was sharply demarcated from the dark sides of the crown, but I was unable to determine if the border was black and I was unsure about the color of the forehead and even the crown. Demarcating the rear edge of the black mask was a region of whitish on the side of the neck, which was further demarcated by the medium-gray that extended from the back of the neck down across the back. I did not see any streaking on the back, but I could have missed subtle streaks and I never clearly saw the rump. The wings appeared to be generally darker than the back, but I was unsure about the ground color. I did note two white wingbars that were relatively broad, sharply defined, and representing the tips of the greater and median coverts; however, I was unable to see of the greater coverts were edges paler and I never clearly saw the primary coverts. The remiges appeared to be slate-gray to blackish, but I could see narrow edges to at least most to the primaries and secondaries that produced a frosted to finely stripes pattern on the rear part of the closed wing that appeared similar on the primaries and secondaries. I did not think the pattern on the innermost secondaries contrasted sharply with that on the other remiges, but I did not see this overly well. I likewise all but failed to note the pattern on the upperside of the tail, but I did not think it differed conspicuously from that on the remiges. I thought the bill was at least mostly black, but I also did not see it overly well. Although I am confident that the eyes were dark, I was unable to discern the color of the irides, and as noted above, I cannot recall any details about the legs or feet.

Technical information

Model

ILCE-7RM5

Lens

FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS

ISO

1600

Focal length

600 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/6.3

Shutter speed

1/1000 sec

Dimensions

1674 pixels x 1068 pixels

Original file size

4.11 MB