Date: Tue, 27 Aug 2002 08:57:21 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Henry Armistead <74077.3176@COMPUSERVE.COM> Subject: North America's first Chiffchaff MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline An apparent Chiffchaff, an Old World warbler, was well-seen at Gambell, St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, yesterday. Initially found by WINGS tour leader Paul Lehman on August 25, it was seen briefly then but even so Paul was certain it was either a Chiffchaff or a Willow Warbler, either one of which would be a new North American species. Relocated by Paul on August 26 about a mile away, it was studied at close range for some time. Paul videotaped it and assistant tour leader and cook (!), George Armistead, photographed it extensively. It was well-seen by all members of the tour, including Sam Dyke of Salisbury. George called me at 11 P.M. last night to tell us the news. They have also been seeing numbers of Arctic Warblers, Yellow Wagtails, and Red-throated Pipits plus some Spectacled and Steller's Eiders as well as countless thousands of Crested Auklets and Short-tailed Shearwaters. Lacking an extensive reference library in this remote setting, I assume they will issue a definitive pronouncement on this bird later, but it certainly sounds good. Its dark legs apparently are one field mark that would seem to eliminate Willow Warbler, although this is supposed to be variable. Best to all.-Harry Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA 19119-1225. 215-248-4120. Please, any off-list replies to: harryarmistead@hotmail.com ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================