This morning at I went to the Mt Hamilton area at the National Arboretum to
see if I could find some warblers.  While things were quiet, I did see
Magnolias, Black-Throated Blues, Common Yellowthroat, Black and White, and
American Redstart.  No Northern Parulas or Yellow-rumped warblers for the
first time in a long time.

The highlight of the morning was what I took to be a first spring male
Summer Tanager.  He was red above the waist and yellow below (not front and
back), with a somewhat splotchy look to the red feathers.  He had a large
pale bill and darker wings that were definitely not black but more brown
with perhaps a tinge of greenish.  While he didn't sing, he did give a two
note chi-tuck call that didn't sound like a Scarlet's chick-burr call or the
pick-y-tuck-y-tuck call of the Summer.


        Good birding,

     -Wayne Baumgartner
           Washington