a confusing fall warbler

I had a classic 'confusing fall warbler' this morning (there was a famous page in the old Peterson Guide marked Confusing Fall Warblers). Alas, neither Peterson nor any of the other field guides have a picture corresponding to this bird and I couldn't find my warbler guide, also from the Peterson series but with a lot more illustrations of plumage variation. This bird was a rather even greenish/yellow all over with wing bars, an eye ring and light or blurry streaking on both the breast and back. Stocky with a slightly downturned sharp beak. It looked somewhat like a juvenile Pine or Bay-breasted Warbler but I'm ruling them out because of the back streaking. Blackpoll, which is very variable at this time of year, is a possibility but I have never seen one so uniformly colored (fall Blackpolls are white under the tail). That leaves Cape May Warbler, a bird I haven't seen here in years and which is illustrated in most guides in its fall guise as a grayish immature female. This one was probably a first-year male.

It seems that the Great Kingfisher Aerial Combat is over. One of the birds finally seems to have retreated leaving the other (don't ask me which one) in full possession of the territory.

Eric Salzman