[bristol-birds] Up Close With A Kentucky Warbler

This morning (Thursday, July 18) around 9 a.m. I was on the front porch at my 
home in Hampton, TN, in Carter County, when I heard some chip notes I could 
not identify. I got off the porch and walked a short distance to the large 
Norway Spruce growing at the edge of some dense tangles of vegetation in a 
swamp area adjacent to the yard.

I pished a few times and a Kentucky Warbler hopped up from near ground level 
and began to walk and hop a tangle of low branches only a hand's reach from 
me. The Kentucky continued to make its rather loud chip note the entire time. 
Because the black on the face wasn't as extensive as I've seen it in other 
Kentuckys, I wondered if this might be a first-fall bird. 

It was truly amazing. I've seen Kentuckys before, but they have always been 
rather difficult to see, seeming to be very wary. This bird was extremely 
tame and seemed as curious about me as I was about it. After we both got good 
looks at each other, the Kentucky dropped back into the tangle of vegetation 
in the swampy area and left.

I got to see the slight tail pump several times, which was not as obvious as 
in a Palm Warbler. And those pinkish legs! 

And he seemed to both walk and hop. He would grasp a limb one step at a time 
and descend toward the tip. Then he would hop-fly to a nearby limb and repeat 
the process.

I happened to have binoculars, but they were completely unnecessary.

Bryan Stevens,
Hampton, TN
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