ML69284451

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

***Mega. 10-15 prior records for Massachusetts, 2nd record for Barnstable County. Maili and I were patrolling thickets when a bright yellow chunky warbler perched very briefly on top of a nearby bush. We both got on it, and I immediately exclaimed "MacGillivray's Warbler!" The bird dropped just before photos, but Maili refound it in a nearby conifer. Again, we got decent, but brief looks before the bird took off, still not allowing for photos. At this point, while we were both certain of the identification and were going to submit a report, we were somewhat dissatisfied with our lack of physical documentation. The next 45 minutes we scoured the area and finally heard some chip notes that sounded good for MacGillivray's from a weedy opening. The bird was found foraging out in the open in some goldenrod, and soon retreated to the edge of some thickets and small trees, finally allowing for prolonged, clear views and photos. The bird eventually hopped back into the thickets. Jubilation ensued. The initial looks at the bird were very brief and later views confirmed all our initial impressions were correct. Overall, the bird was bright yellow throughout the breast and belly, and smooth olive on the back. The head was a cold gray with a markedly pale whitish throat, with the palest part being the chin. The gray on the head extended down into the upper breast, and was sharply demarcated by the yellow lower breast. This created a fully-hooded appearance. Most obviously, the eye arcs were bold white - perhaps twice as thick as on Connecticut Warbler - but they only extended a few millimeters around the top and bottom of the eye. The supralorals were whitish, lacking yellowish tones. The bill was mostly gray but with pinkish at the base of the lower mandible. The tail was noticeably longer than on Mourning Warbler. This bird appeared in a private neighborhood. We were unable to obtain permission for public access, unfortunately. Details have been submitted to the Massachusetts Avian Records Committee.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 7D

Lens

EF400mm f/5.6L USM

ISO

1600

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/800 sec

Dimensions

1084 pixels x 723 pixels

Original file size

801.73 KB