Black-throated Gray Warbler at Arb (Ann Arbor), still, 12:55pm, Apr. 24

[Mike Sefton]

Birders,
  Thanks to the note Roger left under my windshield
wiper, I did indeed see the bird, with an assist from
Larry Sheldon.
  Just got a call from Lathe and Jacco saying the bird
was relocated at 12:55pm in firs/hemlocks/whatever
just at the point the trail bends to the right before
ascending the hill to the original location for the
bird, described below by Roger.
  All props to my main man Roger for finding this
excellent bird and getting the word out quickly.  To
the best of my knowledge, this is the only record for
this species in the county since one was seen in the
Arb on 30 Apr 1958, and collected the following day. 
If accepted by the MBRC, it will be about the eighth
record for the state.
Mike Sefton
Ann Arbor

--- Roger Kuhlman <rkuhlman at hotmail.com> wrote:
 
> Shortly before 10 am I found a Black-throated Gray
> Warbler in Nichol's Arboretum in Ann Arbor. The bird
> was in the second most westernly valley off Dow
> Prairie in a clump of evergreen trees--I think
> either firs or hemlock. To get to this area you need
> to walk south off of Dow Prairie past the
> Rhododendron to the fence along the southern
> boundary of the Arb. Once reaching the fence you
> walk west along the fence up the hill until you see
> an isolated patch of evergreens. Here is where the
> bird was. Also in the vicinity a tree has crashed
> smashing the fence.
>  
> When I first saw the bird I immediately thought of
> Yellow-throated Warbler but it had no yellow throat
> patch. I could see the big black throat and eye area
> patches on the bird. Black streaking was limited to
> the sides of the bird and the undertail coverts were
> clean dull whitish. No streaking was present on the
> back.
>  
> Only a few minutes before sighting the BTG I had met
> Mike Sefton and I was telling him what I had seen in
> the Arb Tuesday morning which I had thought was
> pretty good--a mini-flock of migrating Pine Warblers
> along the Huron river; Blue-headed Vireo; Brown
> Thrasher; Winter Wren; several Palm Warblers; a
> Nashville Warbler; large numbers of Ruby-crowned
> Kinglets, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and Hermit
> Thrushes; and a singing Ovenbird in the Warbler
> grove by the Pavilon. After sighting the
> Black-throated Gray I raced throughout the Arb
> trying to find Mike but I could not locate him. I
> told one birder about the bird but I don't know if
> he was successful in seeing it. While running around
> looking for Mike I heard a second good bird singing
> along the Huron River. A Louisianna Waterthrush was
> on the north side of the river just west of the
> beach? area.
>  
> I hope the BTG can be re-located by other birders.
> It is a superb bird.
>  
> Roger Kuhlman
> Ann Arbor, Michigan
> 4/24/2007
>  
> 
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