BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER
(Dendroica nigrescens)
Kennesaw Mt. National Battlefield Park, Cobb Co., GA
text by Pierre Howard
photos by bob
Zaremba, Dan Vickers and Earl Horn
| Click on any image to zoom in. Most of these photos are
hot-linked from Bob And Deb Zaremba's
|
On September 8, 2003, I was birding Kennesaw Mountain with Bob and Deb Zaremba, Bill Lotz and Sterling Blanchard. Bob left for a conference call and the others began to walk slowly down the road. I stayed behind for a final look and was standing on the road at the saddle, the wooded stretch between Kennesaw Mountain and Little Kennesaw Mountain. A hiking path starts at the top of Kennesaw Mountain, crosses the road, and continues down through the saddle and up to Little Kennesaw. Below the road in that spot is a large open area containing some scattered mature hardwoods, privet and undergrowth, situated beside the path. At about 9:30 A.M., I noticed movement in a small chestnut oak beside the hiking path that borders the open area. As the bird emerged from a clump of leaves, I saw a striking black and white face pattern. The first thing that flashed through my mind was "Yellow-throated Warbler". But when the bird turned his head, I could see that the throat was black not yellow. To my surprise, there was a prominent yellow supraloral spot as well. As the bird disappeared into the leaves, I shouted "Black-throated Gray Warbler” and started down the hiking path to the spot where I had last seen it. When my companions came running, and we began to search up and down the trail without any luck. At about 9:50, I decided to go into the narrow strip of woods between the path and the scrubby area to get a view of the lower part of it. I had been sitting on a large granite boulder for a few moments when a small flock of warblers suddenly appeared in the privet in front of me. To my profound relief, the Black-throated Gray Warbler popped to the top of a small privet and fed long enough for me to confirm the sighting. As I called out again, the bird disappeared for the second time. Now my birding companions began to suspect that I was having hallucinations. I had seen the bird twice, and they had seen nothing. Our new strategy was to spread out and wait. Bill Lotz went back up to the road, Deb stayed on the path and I stayed on the granite rock. At 10:30, Bill shouted that he had the bird up by the road. We all rushed up and saw the bird feeding in the large winged elm tree in the middle of the open area. I finally got some diagnostic photos and felt relieved. Fortunately, the bird was seen until 3:30 that day by many observers. It was not seen on Tuesday, September 9, but was seen on Wednesday, September 10 and on Thursday, September 11 in the same area where it was found. The last sighting was at around 11 A.M. on Thursday by Giff Beaton, Deb Zaremba and me. This first fall male Black-throated Gray Warbler represents the second confirmed sighting for the species in Georgia. The first was from Jekyll Island, Glynn Co., on 18 October 1975. There is also an unconfirmed report from Crooked River State Park, Camden Co., on 1 February 1989. |
Reviewed 15 Oct 2003
