Full frontal view (of Mourning Warbler)

[William McDavit <osprey1@atmc.net>]

Dear seekers of the Roan / Carver's Gap Mourning Warbler:

To quote a famous coach formerly of NCState - I think this  transplanted
North Carolinian has that right:
"Don't give up, don't ever give up!"

The fourth time was a charm.   And besides I needed the exercise.  On
Thursday, June 27 at 9:55 the Mourning Warbler gave a few song notes and
flew into the top of the spruce - fir whatever tree right alongside the
Grassy Bald Trail, about 100 yards from the Appalachian Trail turnoff (sound
familiar?)  He then did something a little puzzling.  He proceeded to open
his mouth wide repeatedly without any sound coming out, like he had
something stuck in his throat.   I was so close that I could see his mouth
was empty.  He afforded me a good long look before he dove into the masses
of plants out of sight behind some taller vegetation.  My previous trips
last and this year had given me un- ID'able flying away looks  and I spent
several hours each time hoping he would come back to no avail.  Actually the
first trip was made in the late afternoon to see if I could do it, and I was
chased off the mountain by an impending thunderstorm that had already
flooded nearby Elizabethton, Tenn.  The weather on Thursday AM was very
cloud-enshrouded, with constantly shifting whiteness, but I still could see
birds within binocular range.  And this guy really rewarded me by landing
right next to me.  ( I didn't use any tapes to lure him in.)

Good Birding,
Mary McDavit, Medcalf Lake, currently home to record-high 63 Wood Ducks,
Sunset Beach, NC.
osprey1@atmc.net