Yellow-throated Warbler (Van Buren); No on Smith's (Berrien)

[pavlik at comcast.net]

Listers, 

My brother and I birded primarily in Van Buren County yesterday. We had a Yellow-throated Warbler on 48th Ave just east of 48th Street. This is maybe 4-5 miles west and 2-3 mile north of Paw Paw. It was in typical habitat - parking near the bridge over the creek would be best. I have no idea if this is a traditional location for this bird. 

We arrived at the Smith's Longspur location in Berrien County late morning. While I got a call with a confirmation before we arrived there were dozens of dejected birders when we got there. We carefully seached for an hour or so but no luck (and they had been searching much longer). Just when we were ready to leave there was a group of 15-20 people scouting a suspect far in the south field. At one point a gentleman shouted that he had one Smith's Longspur. His reference point was maybe 300 yards out looking through binocs and heat waves but in his mind there was no doubt. Several of us got on the bird, looked at each other and did a collective eye-roll as there were no visiable characteristics except general shape and size. Note that we saw American Pipits which have buffy fronts and white outter tail feathers. Hopefully the birds are still around and we just missed them. 

Take care, 
Tom Pavlik 
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