Apologies for the late post. I had what believe was a SWAINSON’S WARBLER this morning at the trees near the Hebrew College driveway right across Clifton Ave from Burnet Woods. Initially I thought I had a Worm-eating Warbler. I watched the bird for over 10 minutes, and was a bit perplexed at the time. I went back at lunch to get a photo at lunch after realizing what I had seen. No luck at lunch. The bird had dark stripe through its eye with light eyebrow above. The movement through the eye was stronger than a Tennessee Warbler and more reminiscent of a Waterthrush. Noticably long sharp bill, not hooked like a Red-eyed Vireo. I had good looks of the bird’s back and top of head. Warm brown back and cap, not green or gray. Off-white/creamy unstressed breast and under tail. The bird did not have a stripe down the middle of the top of its head like a Worm-eating or Black-and-white. There was no yellow under the tail like a Palm Warbler or Red-eyed Vireo. A Swainson’s Warbler in a tree above the Clifton sidewalks is pretty weird, but it had just rained, so I’m guessing this was a migrant trap situation. This is a rare sighting, so I welcome any questions, discussion, and/or criticism.
Keep smiling birders,
Mike Gertz, Over-the-Rhine