New year, new bird

[dantesspirit]

So yesterday, after filling the feeders before the winter storm came in (lots of rain and sleet over night), I decided to see what hits I'd get from the Bird ID app, as the shrubs and trees were loaded. I could recognise a few by sight, still couldn't tell you which is a Carolina Chickadee and which is a Black Cap, and the difference in Sparrows, but I can distinguish Eastern Towhees by sound now.

any way, a new bird popped up! A 'Palm Warbler'. Huh. Ok. Never seen that before. Maybe it's a misidentified bird. So I looked it up to see what they look like in the event I spot one.



Lo and behold... That is definitely an Immature/NonBreeding Adult Palm Warbler. And a female House Finch. That's a new Lifer on the app for me.



There's at least 2. They appear to be the Western Palm Warbler, Nonbreeding Adult/Immature variety. It seems they may still be migrating, or have decided here is a good place to overwinter, due to an abundance of open shrub land, boreal forest with bogs/ponds and plenty of easy snacky foods.

Pretty cool.

Comments

[meowmensteen]

Haha, the only way I can tell a Black-Capped from a Carolina Chickadee is by what state I was in when I saw it.

That's an awesome little warbler.

I get the Spotted Towhee in my parts (Washington State), from what I understand, the only difference is the spots. They do have a distinct call that's hard to mistake for any other bird.

[devon]

Nice!
My dad was always searching for new warblers; they can be evasive!

Also, I really like that feeder. It looks absolutely squirrel-proof! I don't have any low-hanging branches I can use like that right now, but I have a young Catalpa tree that will be suitable in a few more years.

Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith]

Those are good pictures. It looks like you have very nice habitat for birds.

Approximately where are you at? I've made location tags for several folks who have mentioned theirs. I'm in central Illinois myself.