A Surprise from the Archives: Hermit Warbler and Juvenile at Cape Perpetua, Oregon

Sometimes the birdwatching surprises come when one is going through the archives, and makes a discovery from a couple of years back in time. That happened today as I was going though the pictures of a Pacific Northwest trip in the summer of 2015 and came across a set of pictures I had forgotten I had taken. I never followed up at the time to try and identify this bird, but it didn't take long to find that it was a Hermit Warbler (Setophaga occidentalis), This beautiful female was hopping through the trees at Cape Perpetua on the Central Oregon Coast, accompanied by a fledged chick.

The warblers have been a real challenge for me. They are mostly migrants in our area, so I've only had a few opportunities to see them (with the prominent exception of the Yellow-rumped Warbler which is common in our area). There are more than forty species (I've recorded just six of them), and some of them display a lot of variation within a single species. I look forward to the fall season!

Hermit Thrush at Cape Perpetua, Oregon

I don't see Hermit Thrushes (Catharus guttatus) very often, and catching photographs of them has proven difficult (although I have a few). I've been on the road, as is usual for this time of year, and we were stopped at Cape Perpetua on the central Oregon Coast to have a look at the pounding surf. I haven't been expecting to see all that many birds out and about in the winter environment, but I've been pleasantly surprised many times over. As we were leaving the visitor center at the Cape, I saw a bird lurking just over my head, and there was the thrush! It felt close enough to touch, but as you can see, the angle for pictures was very steep. 

For the most part, Hermit Thrushes spend the winter much further to the south, especially in the southern tier of American states and Mexico. The exception is the west coast of the United States, where they may winter as far north as Washington state. The climate stays warmer because of the moderating effect of the nearby Pacific Ocean.