September 9, 2006 [LINK]

For a few warblers more...

I've only been doing a little bit of bird watching this past week, but I saw enough to make note of. Yesterday morning I walked behind the Staunton-Augusta Rescue Squad:

* Asterisks denote species classified as warblers but without "warbler" in their names. This morning (Saturday) I took advantage of the exceptionally nice, clear weather by going for a walk around Betsy Bell Hill. It was slow going at first, but after a while I finally came across a group of noisy birds foraging in the bushes:

It was my first-ever definite sighting of an Orange-crowned warbler in this country; I saw one in Mexico in 2003, and have had a few other "probable" glimpses. The broken eye ring, blurry streaks on the pale yellow breast, solid olive brown back, yellow undertail coverts, and a tail that is all dark underneath leave no doubt.