Very interesting. Way back in the late 1800's John Cairns noted that the
species probably was a breeding bird in the high Craggies as the young were
common there in summer. He supposedly collected an active nest later, but as
far as I know that nest has not been traced to current museum collections. The
species is regular in summer at Mt Rogers/Whitetop and often at Grandfather,
where adults were noted feeding fledglings in 2008 (see Chat vol. 73 p.
107-110, 2009). May be worth repeat visits to your site over the next few
weeks. Other examples of adults feeding young in the southern Blue Ridge
include reports from Unaka Mountain.
Mark
Marcus B. Simpson, Jr
Sent from my iPhone
On Jul 11, 2017, at 3:35 PM, Barbara Reynolds <reynolds.barbara@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Hi birding fiends, I mean friends,
Today I hiked the MTS from Greybeard overlook to near Glassmine overlook. In
a beech gap (with spruce trees nearby), maybe 2 miles in, at about 5400 feet,
I spotted a silent warbler which I am calling Magnolia. I mostly saw it's
underside (what else is new!), which was yellow with black streaks on the
side. I could also see 2 distinct white wing bars. the bird was actively
foraging, apparently with some blue-headed vireos and juncos,
I've studied Stephenson and Whittle and Magnolia is the most likely - it
didn't look like a Canada (with those prominent white wing bars I saw), nor a
yellow-rumped (bird was definitely yellow underneath).
I'm going to challenge the filter on eBird. Folks may recall that Jamie and
I had a singing male Magnolia some miles north of this spot, on the Bald Knob
ridge trail.
Comments??
Thanks,
Kitti
--
Dr. Barbara C. (Kitti) Reynolds
Professor Emerita, Department of Environmental Studies
University of North Carolina at Asheville
Asheville, NC 28804
