Hamilton Beach Strip, Hamilton ON. September 17th. 2020. I took a moment this afternoon to look for a tropical rarity, the gannet-like Brown Booby. It belongs in the southern oceans of the world but one has been around here for a week or so. Making special trips to see oddball rarities is not usually my kind of birding, but today I had some spare time and well, I went.… I didn’t see it.
Returning to my car, I spotted a flitting bird movement that seemed to be out of place. I paused and made a few soft ‘tsst’ sounds, moments later a small, rather plain warbler appeared from the folds of an ornamental cypress to see what the fuss was all about. Now, here was something worth investing my time on, a migrant warbler, a spark of lightness in an otherwise rather drab and dusty semi-industrial neighbourhood.
I told it to stay put while I took a minute to fetch my camera, mystery birds are very often best analysed later with photos. It moved on a little, though not too far, and with a bit of work I was able to get its fleeting attention again. It showed the sort of field marks: olive-green above, indeterminately pale below and conspicuous white wing-bars, that help narrow down the choices to a small handful of species, while still leaving lots of room for conjecture and guesses. This is where photos can make or break an identification, and my camera was now warmed up and ready. The bird appeared a couple of times, posed briefly and promptly flew across the road, leaving for good; still, I’d got some photos, not necessarily crisp and clean, some of them are here.
On-the-run photos like these often miss key features but, if you’re lucky, provide just enough. The bird turned out to be a Bay-breasted Warbler, a young female. Being young and female took it about as far from the classic look of a Bay-breasted Warbler in May as is possible. I have to acknowledge the help of one of our newest and probably youngest birders on the scene. I sent him my photos and asked for his opinion. Liam replied, “I would say Bay-breasted Warbler. There’s very faint notes of warm brown on the flanks, and no yellow/orange feet mean it’s not Blackpoll Warbler.” I think he nailed it.
Despite a morning of transect birding that had produced a few memorable species: Lesser Yellowlegs, Pectoral Sandpiper, Traills Flycatcher, Merlins and Sharp–shinned Hawks, this little warbler was a genuine My Bird of the Day. It was a bit improbable, a quiet wow!, and a challenge.