1st Round

12/22/08
Cliff Weisse -- Accept

01-06-2009.
Sturts--Accept

One thing about the description bothers me - "whitish undertail coverts and lower belly". Sibley describes the Undertail coverts and flanks as buffy not white. However, all the oher field marks and photograph fit the Bay-breated Warbler so I'm voting to accept.

1/7/2009.
Darren Clark--Accept

The report and photos support the identification of the bird in question as Bay-breasted Warbler

01-11-2009.
Dave Trochlell--Accept

Excellent documentation! The good description allayed my concerns about similar Pine and Blackpoll Warblers, and the pictures were totally convincing.

01-18-2009.
chuck trost--Accept

Good picture and description.

19 January 2009.
Hardy--Accept

The pink wash does not appear convincingly in the photos, and I rely upon the thorough written description.

1/25/09.
Charles Swift--Accept

A tricky evaluation even w/ photos of bird in the hand. The clinchers, according to my sources, are the brighter greenish upperparts, buffy flanks, unstreaked sides of breast, and dark soles of feet. The description of yellowish throat and whitish undertail coverts contradict some of the information I found for female Bay-breasted Warblers but this is somewhat subjective and the supporting evidence certainly mitigates this discrepancy. This does illustrate, however, the potential difficulty of evaluating written reports of hard to identify species w/ multiple subtle subjective features where some do not match information in identification guides (and illustrates the value of good photos!).