FreeLists / va-richmond-general / [va-richmond-general] Re: Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

[juliekazz@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Hi Jim,

It is not unusual to see a Blue-grey Gnatcatcher in the winter around here. 
Several years ago Caroline Coe, Darleen Jarry and I had one on Presquile for 
the Hopewell CBC. They are sweet birds that I enjoy having here throughout the 
summer.

Good for you!!
JulieK

-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: "Jim Blowers" <jimvb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 

Today I saw an unusual bird in the tree next to our deck. It was flying from 
branch to branch, and as it flew, it flapped its wings so rapidly that it 
reminded me of a hummingbird. However, this bird was slightly larger than a 
hummingbird, and it was much too fat looking for a hummingbird. It had markings 
similar to a junco ? gray on the top, and light color on his underside, which 
seemed somewhat yellow. It had a long beak and a black eye. There were some 
darker gray and white feathers near the rear of the bird. I told Anne about it 
and she thought it was a mockingbird. I told her it was much too small ? 
smaller than a wren and slightly smaller than a chickadee. I looked in 
Peterson?s book about it and found a bird called a blue-gray gnatcatcher. It 
seemed to have the right colors and the right type of beak. The description 
said it looks like a little mockingbird. I looked it up in Sibley?s and the 
bird looked very much like what I saw, but it had no black marking above its 
 eye, w
hich seems to indicate to me a female.
 
However, both Peterson and Sibley said that the bird was a summer bird ? the 
year-round purple area in both books went up the coast only as far as about 
Myrtle Beach. So was it a blue-gray gnatcatcher? It happened too quickly for me 
to get a picture of it. If so, is this a sign of global warming, as is the 
cherry tree which blossomed this week, whereas in past years, it blossomed in 
March?
 
Jim Blowers