Bob Sargent, Malcolm Hodges and I were birding some of the Middle Georgia hotspots on Friday, April 24, 2009. One of our first stops was the Rum Creek MARSH Project on Juliette Road in Monroe County. We arrived around 7 a.m. on a bright, calm, clear morning, and proceeded on foot from the locked gate through the woods along the dirt road to the earthen berm. The swamp on the west side of the berm contains numerous Black Willows growing along its margin, and these attract a myriad of bird species. We were about 30 m from the open marsh when Malcolm said he heard what sounded like a Warbling Vireo singing from the willow trees to our left. We quickly located the bird about 10 m above the ground near the top of one of the willows. We observed it for at least three minutes as it slowly foraged along the larger branches of the willow, stopping frequently to sing a quick, jumbled warble with an abrupt ending. Unlike the songs of most other vireo species found in Georgia, its song featured no pauses between notes. The bird was fairly plain, featuring a slight white eyebrow, a grey line through the eyes, pale lores, and no wing bars. We briefly (5-10 seconds) compared its song to a recording on an iPod, and were able to obtain several good photographs.

Location: 4 miles from the I-75 exit heading east toward Juliette on Juliette Road - 330 3'41.49"N 83052'2.64"W.

Return to Species Account Menu