English and Scientific names:	Bell’s Vireo Vireo bellii
Number of individuals:	1
Locality: LOUISIANA:	Cameron Parish
Specific Locality:	Lacassin NWR Headquarters areas
Date(s) when observed:	1/14 and 1/17, 2009
Time(s) of day when observed:	around noon on 1/14, around 8 a.m. on the 17th
Reporting observer and address:	Paul Conover Lafayette, LA
Other observers accompanying reporter who also identified the bird(s):	Mac Myers
Other observers who independently identified the bird(s):
Light conditions (position of bird in relation to shade and to direction and amount of light):	light was fine both days, sunny the first day, and filtered morning sun the second.
Optical equipment:	Zeiss 10X
Distance to bird(s):	The bird was foraging fairly high in live oaks the first day, and low but a tree back the second. I’d say about 20-30 yards.
Duration of observation:	Piecemeal observations over time added up to perhaps 2-3 minutes of viewing. On 1/14 we saw the bird and tried to get a read on it, but were successful only in narrowing bird down to possible Bell’s. Subsequently, the many other exciting possibilities haunted me, so I went back on 1/17 and relocated it and ascertained it was a Bell’s.
Habitat:	Mature live oak forest ringing cypress-tupelo lake edge. Moderate understory, many understory plants dead annuals.
Behavior of bird:	Foraging at leafy ends of branches. At times, bird would sit still in clumps for long periods. It always seemed to keep branches cetween itself and observer, creating frustrating lack of good looks. In company with kinglets. Forgaing consisted of fluttering, hanging upside down, etc. acribatically.
Description:	A plain-looking bird, fairly pale below, greenish above, with one pronounced wingbar, and slight pale marking above eye. Below, the bird was whiter than many other Bell’s I’ve seen, which threw me for a while. Yellowish wash seemed restricted to sides. Greenish above about like pale Pine Warbler, from tail to bill. Eye dark, pale diffuse area above eye. Relatively short, thich bill appeared grayish ventrally. This bird largely lacked defining features.
Voice:	Not heard.
Similar species:	White-eyed Vireo, especially last year’s hatch—no yellow on spectacles, wing pattern not as defined. This bird, if a WEVI, would have been the most washed out WEVI imaginable. Pine Warbler—vireo bill, underpart colors/pattern different. Various drab warblers—vireo bill.
Photographs or tape recordings obtained?	None, despite efforts.
Previous experience with this species:	Quite a bit, in state and out.
Identification aids:	None.
This description is written from:	Memory
Are you positive of your identification? If not, explain:	Yes, although I hate to submit a report on a bird with ID issues without photos, and I will understand if the record is rejected on those grounds.
Reporter:	Paul Conover
Date and time:	Jan 20, 2008