ML335799271
Contribuidor
Fecha
Localidad
- Edad y sexo
- Macho adulto - 1
- Sonidos
- Llamado; Canto
- Playback
- No se usó playback
Detalles de la observación
Lifer! I first heard and soon after saw them singing and hopping around in a couple of oak trees 250 yards NE of the summit of the Ridge Trail. The oaks had plenty of leaves on them, yet somehow seemed a little easier to look into than others, and the warblers seemed just a little easier to track and a little less fleeting than some of their cousins. Other than having a slightly more petite beak even than other warblers, I couldn't tell you a lot of structural differences between them and others, but the plumage was very distinctive: solid yellow face making their black eyes look extra beady, solid black throat, white underneath from the top of the breast to all but the very edges of the tail, which were black, dark gray on top with even darker, slaty stripes going down the back, and two white wingbars. The legs and beak were black. I couldn't tell if each of the birds were singing their own different songs, or if the same individual was varying its own so much, but there was a decent amount of variety. I did hear and record what I thought of in my head as the classic Hermit Warbler song that begins with a few bounces up and down, middles with one or two buzzy burrs, and ends with one or two high notes, possibly adding a quick, downward sliding sign-off. But I also heard very different songs from them as audible in the recording. The chip calls seemed a little higher and quicker than what I'm most used to hearing from Yellow-rumped. Finally! I had gone out specifically hoping to find this not-that-uncommon migrant eight times already this season, mostly at Mount Diablo on Mitchell Canyon Road where they've been reported almost every single day, including many reports coming from the same day, and sometimes even the same hour I had been there but been unable to find them. Black Point? How about disappoint? Globe Lily? Don't be silly. Red Road? No go. Other places I went away from Mount Diablo had been just as fruitless including Tilden Park, Lake Merritt, and Ellis Lake. So while I suppose I knew they were possible at Black Diamond, my choosing to go there on Global Big Day was a conscious decision to shift away from chasing those warblers to instead look for Canyon Wren and continue the search for Prairie Falcon. It had been a nice and fun morning of birding already with lots of really interesting or surprising finds by ear, including learning Western Kingbird's dawn song, and getting that Peregrine Falcon's screeching on recording right at the top of Ridge Trail. It was up there that I briefly considered turning back to continue around the Chaparral Loop, but it still wasn't even 6:45, so I figured I'd go a little further on the Ridge Trail just to see where it went, thinking I might have more good views that could potentially lead to falcon sightings. The only warbler of the morning had been a single singing Wilson's that I didn't even see, so it was initially a bit of a sweet surprise that rapidly turned to euphoric shock when I recognized the Hermit Warbler song. I could hardly believe it, but there it was, and in very short order, there they were! Three, singing, chasing, chipping, and sometimes holding somewhat still, all in decent light. What had been for me the toughest yet to find warbler was now providing the best views of any lifer warbler I ever found before. It's certainly the first I've found that let me get identifiable photos and recordings. It also happens to be the 10th warbler on my life list and, bittersweetly, the last really reliable spring migrant warbler I can find in the Bay Area.
Especies adicionales
Información técnica
- Grabadora
- Micrófono
- Accesorios
- Original file size
- 1.33 MB