Thanks to Rob for letting me know where in the park he had spotted this bird!
I visited Ben Brenman on Sunday afternoon around 1pm and stayed for about 45
minutes. I walked the entire lengths (each side) of the creek/river between
the two bridges but think that I may have relocated the warbler. Having never
seen one before, and noting how incredibly plain they are, it's difficult to
say for certain.
I found a plain olive bird, with certain yellow under its tail. Looking in the
book, its hind parts looked like either the OC warbler or a (female) common
yellowthroat. I'd like to say that I've seen enough yellowthroats in my life
to tell that it was not one, but alas, I have not. I never did get a good look
at its face (for eye striping and eye ring) before it flew away. I did,
however, get one or two direct looks at the top of its head and there was no
indication of any crown, but if they're anything like kinglets, then this isn't
a certain characteristic to look for. Sadly, once it flew, I was unable to
locate it again.
Does anyone have a sense of how often are Orange Crown Warblers present in
northern VA vs. common yellowthroats?
It's always exciting to search for a new life bird, even when it's a painfully
plain one! Thanks, for posting, Rob.
-Renee Grebe
Alexandria, VA
p.s. The only other highlight from the park was a yellow-bellied sapsucker and
countless northern mockingbirds (which I imagined must've been the bodyguards
for the OC Warbler - they seemed to be constantly standing guard at the
tree-edges.
________________________________
From: Rob Young <robnoblestar@xxxxxxx>
To: VA-BIRD <va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thu, December 3, 2009 1:11:32 PM
Subject: [Va-bird] Orange-crowned Warbler, Ben Brenman Park, Alexandria
There was an Orange-crowned Warbler this morning at Ben Brenman Park, with a
group of Titmice.
Other highlights included 10 Hooded Merganser and unusual numbers of Grackles
and Cowbirds.
Rob Young
Alexandria, VA
Location: Cameron Station
Observation date: 12/3/09
Number of species: 29
Canada Goose 1
Mallard 2
Hooded Merganser 10
Double-crested Cormorant 4
Great Blue Heron 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Cooper's Hawk 4
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Ring-billed Gull 60
Herring Gull 1
Mourning Dove 34
Belted Kingfisher 2
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 4
Fish Crow 3
crow sp. 1
Carolina Chickadee 4
Tufted Titmouse 6
Carolina Wren 3
American Robin 53
Northern Mockingbird 10
European Starling 80
Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Song Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 8
Common Grackle 68
Brown-headed Cowbird 109
House Finch 1
American Goldfinch 24
House Sparrow 20
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
