I made the 2-hour drive to Sheepskin Hollow State Nature Preserve this
morning to search for the Lawrence's Warbler reported there a few days ago,
which would be a life bird. And I found it, but now the plot thickens.

The photos submitted to eBird by those who had previously seen the bird
showed a male with all-yellow underparts and fairly neat appearing black
throat and auriclar patch. However, the bird I saw (for all of 30 seconds
in several 2-3 second perches as it flitted constantly about) had somewhat
ragged edges to those black parts and a noticeable whitish longitudinal
streak below the wings similar to a flank streak. I was unable to get a
photo due to its constant flitting. Whether its feathers were just in
disarray (certainly the more likely scenario) or it was a different male is
thus debatable.

And now the plot really thickens. I saw another bird, which I thought at
first was a female Blue-winged Warbler. Generally looked like it was
supposed to but really dull both on the grayish wings, yellowish underparts
and head, and black eye streak. However, it did NOT have any wing bars at
all, and according to Birds of North America Online, even juveniles should
show wing bars. So either it is a very young juvenile that just has not yet
acquired wing bars, or it's another Blue-winged/Golden-winged hybrid. I
reported it eBird as the latter for lack of a better alternative.

I found 29 species during the 2 hours I was there, mostly under the power
line. Among the other highlights were:

Hairy Woodpecker--2
Acadian Flycatcher--1
Eastern Kingbird--1
Cedar Waxwing--2
Ovenbird--1
Common Yellowthroat--4
Field Sparrow--7, including 1 bird (presumably a female) that flew into the
ruts of the off-road-vehicle track under the power line and then dragged
itself along on the ground with both wings spread to the side for 20 or 30
feet, calling constantly. Wonderful distraction display!
Scarlet Tanager--5, including 1 male foraging in the early-successional
shrubs under the power line. I saw this twice, both while walking south,
then while walking back. I have seen this species several times before in
such habitats rather than the forest, and I interpret this as successful
adaptation to forest fragmentation, which is a good thing for this forest
bird.
Rose-breasted Grosbeak--2 males

My complete eBird list is at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S30470481

--
Terry Bronson
Morgantown, WV

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