Ah, the first day of September. The air was crisp, clean and cool after overnight northerly winds,
and the trees in Forest Park were alive with migrant wood-warblers that had been a couple of hundred miles north a mere twelve hours earlier. As I strolled through the park the high-pitched twitterings of a big flock of Chimney Swifts momentarily drew my eyes up to the clear blue sky but mostly I watched the canopy and the midstory for the frantic movement that meant foraging warblers. And did I ever see foraging warblers! Fourteen species in two hours, including my first-ever-in-Queens Golden-winged Warbler, a gorgeous male foraging about six feet up in a sapling in full sunlight. The other birds on the highlight list included a drab female Hooded Warbler that I only managed to see (and identify) because of the flashing white outer tail feathers and a Worm-eating Warbler digging through the curled up leaves on a downed tree. I won’t even go into the hordes of American Redstarts, Black-and-white Warblers, Black-throated Blue Warblers, and Common Yellowthroats, or the Canada Warblers, Magnolia Warblers, Black-throated Green Warbler, Northern Parulas, Blue-winged Warblers, Chestnut-sided Warblers, and, well, you get the picture: it was a great morning!
And though I was limping (the wound is a bit infected and I’m going to the doctor again today) I managed to cover quite a bit of ground and get a bunch of lousy pictures of the birds that I saw. So, as per the standard for my Diabolical ID Quizzes, please name the species you see in the pictures below in the comments. I am afraid that this one is not as diabolical as usual, but I have misjudged these things before (you might think that finding the bird is the hardest part). And, no, I will not provide larger versions of the pictures: that would make things entirely too easy!
Good luck! You’re going to need it!
First the quiz:
1. Prairie Warbler (although it could also be Magnolia)
2. Chestnut-sided Warbler
3. Chat?
4. Me: “Leaves” Corey: “Okay guys, when I took that picture, I knew there was a XXX Warbler somewhere. It must be on the picture but I have no idea where it might be.”
For a (former) Great Lakesian, Hooded, Worm-eating and Golden-winged would make for an excellent day. I have only ever seen 2 Hoodeds, 2 Golden-wingeds and heard 2 Worm-eaters. Yes, I need to travel more widely in NA.
It was to be feared that the wound would get infected. All the very best to you, and I hope it will heal quickly, although an infection will make for a better scar to impress your son.
Just eat half a kilogram of raw garlic each day and have a bottle of Whisky each 2 hours and the infection should be okay within a few days.
Yes there may be other ways but particularly the Whisky part is more fun than those.
Actually, I have only ever really seen 1 Hooded, the other was a movement off a branch where a Hodded had been singing before.
Did you forget to insert the photos with birds in them?
@Mike: Look harder! Diabolical I says, diabolical! Mwahahahahahahaha!
To me the second looks like an American Goldfinch.
I hope the doctors can clear up the infection quickly.
Is there such a thing as “Warbler-envy”? I’m with Mike…where are the photos with birds in them?
If the infection gets too bad Corey, just hold out until I can get there on Saturday and I’ll remove the leg for free. (Its the least I can do).
And I’m with everyone else, there is no bird in the 4th picture. Perhaps the infection has spread and you are delirious and seeing things?
Clearly the ER was negligent and also was very stingy with regard to the medication: a LOLLIPOP? At the least, a wound that severe required a TOOTSIE-POP! How can you be expected to heal w/o medicinal chocolate?
btw, I have heard that the vision is the first thing to go when the infection hits the brain, which explains those outstanding photos!
Are these all from 9/1? Inclined to agree with Jochen, but not all are on your list. So that leaves Magnolia, Chestnut-sided, Yellow-throat, and leaves. Unless the out of focus blob in the opening towards the right edge is a BT Green (or Parula).
These look like my photos of Swainson’s Warbler. Bird came in to a quick blast of tape and I immediately went for the camera. And ended up with a pile of shots that I’ve tagged “Swainson’s Warbler habitat” as I’ve yet to find anything resembling a bird in them. Maybe I should post those and let someone else try.
Anyone else care to guess? Or is the diabolicalness (diabolicity?) too much for you?
I will confirm that all the pictures were taken on 9/1/09 at Forest Park but I will also say that I did not mention every species that I saw in the post.
I plan to have an answer post up on Friday or Saturday but seeing that Jochen’s cure for my leg calls for quite a bit of whiskey I might forget…if I only had a tootsie pop to integrate into the cure my leg would probably be all better now.
To forget is the central part of the cunning scheme, Corey.