Yesterday was a banner bird day at our southeastern Ohio farm in Liberty Twp, Washington Co! At 12:02 pm I heard two common ravens calling to the west of our house. I rushed outside to see an adult soaring in circles overhead calling and scratching its head with its right foot. Another raven called from farther to the west, sounding higher pitched and less confident in voice. This may have been a young bird, but we did not see it. Julie Zickefoose got photos of the soaring/scratching adult. This is our fifth CORA sighting for our farm.

Then at 6:45 pm, while Julie and I were sitting in our meadow, I spotted a warbler flying low across the grass, west to east, directly to our stand of Virginia pines. I noted it was dark above and yellow below with white in the tail as it flew past. My initial thought was pine-prairie-palm. I followed it toward the pines and relocated it. It was pumping its tail energetically and the upper half of the bird appeared much darker-gray than the three more common species. The bird jumped up onto a branch in the open and looked at me (I was pishing softly). Dark gray face, distinct broken white eye ring, yellow breast with black streaks, grayish back, tail pumping, white undertail, loud chip. It was a female Kirtland's warbler!

Sadly Julie only saw it fly—she did not get on it with her bins or camera. This is painfully ironic, too, since she's currently working on a painting of a Kirtland's warbler for a commission.

This was not a life bird for me. I've seen in on the breeding grounds in MI, in migration (spring and fall) in Ohio, and on the wintering grounds in the Bahamas. But it WAS a new bird for our property list: #187.

Julie looked around the area for the bird again this morning for about an hour to no avail. We'll keep on looking though, since the Birds of North America account says migrants may stay in one place for several days. If we re-find it, I'll certainly sound the alarm.

A single-observer record with no photo evidence as back-up is a curious thing, I realize. But we're right in the migratory path and on the front end of their known migration period in fall. 

It would have been a nice one to share!


Good birding!

BT3


Bill Thompson, III
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