This little Philadelphia Vireo almost slipped past me as I walked along the trails at a local park. It's that quick little movement you see out of the corner of your eye...and then you stop and stare and stare..knowing you saw something move in that tree..it's the thrill of the hunt that keeps me coming back!
This little bird is a welcomed, but rare, visitor in our area. He certainly is a sweet looking bird. The first Philadelphia Vireo was discovered near Philadelphia in 1842. Finding this little guy was definitely a WOW discovery for me..a lifer I suppose. At first glance he was hidden by all the leaves and I believed he was a warbler but when I, finally, saw the white-bordered black eye-line.. I thought different!!
He certainly was patient with me...as he sat for several seconds which allowed me to capture some better views of those eye markings, plus I was able to get several shots of those olive green to yellow underparts. I have since read that he is probably a fall juvenile due to his yellow belly color being rather bright. Apparently older Phil. Vireos are much duller at this time of the year, which is pretty much the opposite of what I would have expected!
His little gray cap kind of sealed the deal... Yep, I had found a nice hidden treasure on a beautiful fall day among all those ever-changing leaves. The hunt, the find..life is good! ;-0
