ML623537276

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Media notes

The bird is left of the post, its tail partially obscured by a bright leaf.

Observation details

Possible first-winter Mourning Warbler. Sighted in an area under a power line cut that is between the wooded edge of Bond Lake and a swampy bog. There are lots of Common Yellowthroats there now. 1st sighting: About 8:45 am today at the black-iron railing over the culvert where the creek flows into the south side of Bond Lake. Approximately here: 35.775665,-78.823548 First saw the skulking bird down low around the base of a sycamore sapling along the creek. It came closer as it worked its way through the weeds and then right up to the edge of the iron railing and down along the culvert’s structure where I lost track of it. It was in the weeds almost the whole time. I got several partial and brief views of the bird and one complete (also brief) view from about 15 feet away where I could see the bird’s face, throat, and upper breast as well as its back. In other views, I could see the bird’s flanks and vent area. The bird was overall bright yellow below from throat to vent and greenish above. It had a whitish broken eye-ring. I did not notice any other details of the bird at the time, except that I got the impression of almost imperceptible, diffuse, grayish stripes on the breast. I was relatively close to — and somewhat above — the bird when I noticed these details. It was below me as it worked its way along the weedy edge of the culvert. As it came closer to the edge, I began snapping photos blindly in hopes it might pop out of the vegetation. It never popped out, but one shot shows the bird out of focus in the weeds (left of the black post, its tail partially obscured by a bright leaf). After the sighting, I consulted the Sibley app and noticed that I should have paid attention to other details, too (e.g., “yellowish supraloral” on a 1st winter bird, etc). 2nd sighting: Probably 40-50 minutes later in a low Photinia shrub at the edge of the woods near this location (near a blooming Boneset): 35.776051,-78.823248 I was viewing from farther away this time (about 30 feet) and the bird was in fairly deep shade, foraging. But I could briefly see its yellow flanks/belly, face, and what seemed like a yellow smudge in the supraloral area. It was a brief view, so I am less certain (75%) of the supraloral detail than the bright yellow from throat to vent (100%). I lost sight of the bird after that and could not refind it. It had a fondness for staying close to the ground and under cover. The image shows color variation (greenish above, yellow (flanks) below). I think the color tones compare favorably with images of first-winter Mourning Warblers from online and other photographic sources (Stokes, Crossley). Contours of the head in my image are difficult to discern, but I see what appears to be a pronounced bill with yellow along its edge. I might argue that I see parts of the white eye arcs directly below the bill, partially obscured by the shadow of a twig. The tail, too, is visible in my image and its contours are clearer. The tail shows both black and green feathers and has a slight notch. Common Yellowthroats can also show this feature (black and green feathers in the tail), but Mourning Warbler averages more somewhat more black tail feathers (especially toward the end) than Common Yellowthroat. Do a side-by-side comparison of these features in my image with this image of a first winter Mourning Warbler from All About Birds: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mourning_Warbler/photo-gallery/296835791 I welcome other opinions/suggestions. I will leave the ID as 'new world warbler sp' for now.

Technical information

Model

Canon PowerShot SX50 HS

ISO

80

Focal length

66.6 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/160 sec

Dimensions

4000 pixels x 2248 pixels

Original file size

3 MB