Dear Ontbirders, I got a good 15 second look at this bird, but no photos. I was arriving at work (late, don't tell anybody) at approximately 10AM this morning, Thursday, May 19th, 2011 and as I walked around my car and put my old Swarovski EL 8.5x42s around my neck, I glanced up to see a bird perched in the top of spruce tree where I had heard and then seen a White-crowned Sparrow singing earlier this week. When I raised my bins and had a look, I did not recognize the bird so I quickly made the following careful observations.
- Warbler size, shape and beak - all yellow underparts except for a dark gray throat (which is what I “recognized” as unfamiliar in the context of the rest of the features) - Olive green above - dark eye with no eye-ring - no wingbars - yellow face - it sat fairly still only moving slightly to give me a better view so that while I observed it I could see most of its head except the left side, neck, right wing (folded), right back and right to most of left undersides, except its tail and its left side. It was aligned toward me at about 45 degrees with the tail back and to the left, head forward to my right. It looked toward me to the point I could see its entire dark gray throat in contrast with the yellow breast and right face, but I could not really see the left side of its face. - it was calm, though alert, and silent - it appeared to be simply resting The visibility was excellent with the background of a darkish gray cloud and bright light as it was cloudy with the sun breaking through in many places. 16C ESE 10 km/h wind. I was 30 m NE of the 10 m tall spruce the bird was perched atop and could see the bird clearly except for its tail and left side. My camera was ready on the passenger seat of the car (I had just observed my first male Golden-winged Warbler of the season that had flown off just as I got the camera ready along Pinegrove Road) from where I had just picked up my binoculars, so I decided I had all the key features memorized and needed a voucher photo. When I lowered my binoculars to reach for the camera, the bird flew off to the north out of sight in typical unusual bird fashion. I immediately went in to the office and consulted my copies of: Warblers, Jon Dunn/Kimball Garrett Warblers of Ontario, Chris G. Earley The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North American, David Allen Sibley I quickly identified this bird as a female Hooded Warbler *Wilsonia citrina*and then ruled out the possibilities of Golden-winged/Blue-winged hybrids and other *Wilsonia, Dendroica* and *Oporornis* species with which it might possibly be confused, since clearly a Hooded Warbler is not expected to be found at this location. I could not see the bird’s tail and so did not observe the usual characteristic tail raising and fanning described in the literature and when the bird flew off, I did not observe it in binoculars and did not observe any white tail against the lighter gray clouds in the background as it flew. i.e. it may have shown white in the tail, but I did not observe this feature. Its flight was not very distinctive, but as I recall it had fairly quick, even wingbeats and varied its course as though finding its way. I went for a walk in the afternoon exploring the area to the north towards where it had flown and observed Chipping Sparrows, American Goldfinches, Brown-headed Cowbirds, European Starlings, Eastern Bluebird, Field Sparrows, Song Sparrows, Common Yellowthroats, Yellow Warblers, Golden-winged Warblers (pair), Eastern-tailed Blue butterflies mating, Nashville Warbler, White-tailed Deer, Bank Swallows, Grasshopper Sparrows, Clay-colored Sparrow singing odd song (probably hybrid with Grasshopper or Chipping Sparrow) and an Eastern Towhee, but no sign of the Hooded Warbler. I don't imagine I'll see this bird again here as it is likely an overshoot or was possibly headed into the Minesing Wetlands. The location was Hydro One – Essa Transformer Station 2182 Sunnidale Road Springwater Township ON L0M 1T2 GPS UTM 17T 594622mE 4911926mN or Latitude 44.354441, Longitude -79.812700 You never know what you'll see when you look! Chris Evans – Midhurst The Dragonhunter's Apprentice _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
