Connecticut?

One of my goals this spring was to band a Connecticut Warbler. My hope of catching a Kirtland's Warbler almost came true, but the bird that showed up Tuesday afternoon was on the mainland side of Presque Isle, less than a mile from where I was banding at the time. Oh so close...

Checking the nets yesterday morning I came across this bird. 

In the net it looked pretty special, with a nice eye ring, bright yellow underparts and a dull grayish hood. I've always thought that Connecticuts have eye rings and Mournings don't, so this seemed to be my first CT Warbler in the net. A quick dive into Peter Pyle's opus on identifying North American passerines showed that wing length was a quick and easy way to separate the two species.

A wing length of 59 mm immediately ruled out Connecticut Warbler as their wings are at least a 3 mm longer. So, I was left to appreciate that this was a female Mourning Warbler, which shows a clear and distinct eye ring.

She was pretty, though much more muted than the male is..

Another good way to distinguish between these two species is to look at the undertail coverts. They don't extend terribly far on the Mourning Warbler, as you can see here.

This morning I caught three more female Mourning Warblers, and they all had nice eye rings, short wings and short undertail covets. Banding is so nice in that it allows you to learn the key I.D. fathers of a species with the bird in the hand, rather than getting quick glimpses of a skulker from 40' away.

We didn't just catch this bird. We also had a nice variety of warblers and other species, as well as a visit from one the local TV stations (link here).

This young Baltimore Oriole is starting to look like an adult male

A male Wilson's Warbler is always nice. They are so small, weighing less than 8 grams.

Another "Traill's" Flycatcher

This full male Black-throated Green Warbler was a big surprise. It's getting kind of late to still be seeing them here, away from they breeding grounds.

I love it when you can get a Magnolia Warbler to spread their tail. It's such a pretty pattern.

That's all for today. Tomorrow my quest for a Connecticut Warbler continues. We've had south winds all day, so maybe we'll get lucky.