Taylor:

There were plenty of Louisiana's in the area and the Swainson's had a 3
note introduction like the Louisiana but not the downward slur and not as
liquid....more like a titmouse really.  The last part of the song is what
I call the whip-poor-will part ...very simply presented without much in
the way of overtones, unlike the birds and you mentioned and particularly
hooded warblers which are in the area.  Behaviourly the bird kept to low
undergrowth and subcanopy trees and was shy and would not spish in.  The
habitat was closed forest canopy, extensive woods small stream near steep
banks, no rhododendrons, but similar to the thick streamside habitats I
have seen them in southern WV.  I played with it about 10 minutes before
having to move on.

sam

Sam Droege  
w 301-497-5840 h 301-390-7759 fax 301-497-5624
USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
BARC-EAST, BLDG 308, RM 124 10300 Balt. Ave., Beltsville, MD  20705
Http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov

Out of the dry days
through the dusty leaves
far across the valley
those few notes never
heard here before

one fluted phrase
floating over its
wandering secret
all at once wells up
somewhere else

and is gone before it
goes on fallen into
its own echo leaving
a hollow through the air
that is dry as before

where is it from
hardly anyone
seems to have noticed it
so far but who now
would have been listening

it is not native here
that may be the one
thing we are sure of
it came from somewhere
else perhaps alone

so keeps on calling for
no one who is here
hoping to be heard
by another of its own
unlikely origin

trying once more the same few
notes that began the song
of an oriole last heard
years ago in another
existence there

it goes again tell
no one it is here
foreign as we are
who are filling the days
with a sound of our own.

     W. S. Merwin - UNKNOWN BIRD








Taylor McLean <>
Sent by: Maryland Birds & Birding <>
06/07/2004 01:01 PM
Please respond to Maryland Birds & Birding


        To:     
        cc:
        Subject:        Re: [MDOSPREY] Swainson's Warbler just below the MD line


Sam -
  this is such a great bird!

 Could you distinguish the song from Louisiana Waterthrush and even some
others
such as YT Warbler, Northern Waterthrush etc. Also , can you mention the
habitat in greater detail.
How extensive was the forest, were there rhododendrods there? etc.



        thanks


                Taylor McLean


----- Original Message -----
From: "Sam Droege" <>
To: <>
Sent: Monday, June 07, 2004 12:48 PM
Subject: [MDOSPREY] Swainson's Warbler just below the MD line


> On the 29th of May in Hampshire County West Virigina about 10:00 a.m.
> along a small stream near the end of Sandy Hollow Road I had a
Swainson's
> Warbler singing, not far from Allegany County.
>
> Coordinants were:  39.33797n  78.41398w
>
> I didn't have binoculars with me, but I am familiar with the song and
> habits of the bird and both were on the mark.
>
> sam
>
>
> Sam Droege  
> w 301-497-5840 h 301-390-7759 fax 301-497-5624
> USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
> BARC-EAST, BLDG 308, RM 124 10300 Balt. Ave., Beltsville, MD  20705
> Http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov
>
> To come upon warblers in May
> Is to forget time and death...
>       Roethke