Hi All,
First I would like to thank the 40 birders who took the time to try to ID the
mystery bird. For someone who may not have taken a look at the bird, it can be
found at
http://www.pbase.com/mayhorn/mystery ;
Here is a breakdown of the attempted ID's:
Cape May Warbler 29
Orange-crowned Warbler 6
Pine Warbler 1
Yellow Warbler 1
Tennessee Warbler 1
Myrtle Warbler 1
Eastern Phoebe 1
The bird was a 1st winter female Cape May Warbler.
Gerry Hawkins, the first person to venture a guess, did a great job of
explaining why it is a Cape May.
He said, "The bird appears to be an immature Cape May Warbler, which is
suggested by the faint dark semi-circular area on the auriculars (suggested
only in the third picture), dark streaking from chin to vent, faint pale edges
on the wings and a greenish rump."
This was not an easy bird to ID. It resembles very little the 1st year female
Cape May in Sibley's field guide. I must admit that when I first saw it come
down to the stream, it took me a couple of minutes to decide that it was
definitely a Cape May. All of the field marks were there, but it's not your
typical Cape May.
Thanks again and keep your birding skills honed. You never know what might show
up here on Compton Mt.
Roger Mayhorn
Compton Mt
Buchanan County