[obol] Black-throated Gray warbler still on Coffin Butte

[Lars and Gail Norgren]

      I saw a female BLACK-THROATED GRAY
October 9 here in Manning(Wash Co). This
is probably the latest I have ever seen
one, and it was in a red willow, classic
yellow warbler habitat. A few days earlier
I saw a bright male TOWNSEND'S WARBLER from
my front door. This is the only time I have
seen this species at my house outside of
spring migration. This probably reflects
a profound change in my time budget rather
than any trend in bird life.
      The Townsend's was in a massive flock
of mixed chickadees and kinglets, which is
what caused me to go get the binocular. There
must have been fifty birds at least, or triple
the normal number.BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES
predominated, almost to the exclusion of
CHESTNUT-BACKED. This is the reverse of the
usual for this location, where the two species
rarely forage together. It got me wondering,
"Where did these chickadees come from?" We think
of them as rather sedentary, yet this quantity
of birds exceeds the sum total I would count if
I made a count of the surrounding 100 acres.
      I saw this Townsend's a day or two before
David Iron's hints on vagrant warblers was posted.
I realize the species is to be expected, but it
was a source of great delight to me. Not only did
it provide personal confirmation of a very useful
concept(don't ignore large groups of chickadees),
but it's a treat to see such a colorful bird when
I'm anticipating six months of juvenile golden-crowned
sparrows.
Lars Norgren MANNING OREGON
On Oct 10, 2006, at 5:50 PM, Joel Geier wrote:

> Hello folks,
>
> A late BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER was still atop Coffin Butte in 
> Benton Co. today, associating with three TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS.
>
> I was up there for some quiet time. Flags around Oregon are going to 
> be flying at half-mast tomorrow or the next day, for a kid from Salem 
> that we knew.
>
> Joel
>
> --
> Joel Geier
> jgeier at attglobal.net
>
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