18 May 2009
This should have been a day for celebration as the immature male/female 
Kirtland’s Warbler lingered on for the Monday morning crowd. However, the 
reality was that this slippery Kirtland’s was more elusive than the 
Scarlet Pimpernel, leaving more than a few birders frustrated, and many left 
empty-handed. Birders scoured the area shortly after dawn and were left 
wanting with no sign of it in the vicinity of the Sportmen’s Migratory 
Bird Center at Magee. However, a few diligent birders stuck to the task and 
did not allow themselves to wilt after early negative reports from the area, 
and at around 11am got their just desserts when they found this sneaky 
warbler of the northern jack pines hanging out once again close to the area 
it had been at the last call the night before. Word trickled down to the 
boardwalk, and in the early afternoon another select crowd enjoyed further 
sightings of North America’s rarest warbler, which then promptly went to 
ground again thereafter. Much effort was put into relocating the 
Kirtland’s in the afternoon with just another short reported sighting 
around mid-afternoon to show for it all up until at least 7pm The 
Kirtland’s clearly bucked the trend of all other seasonally immigrant 
Magee warblers, and was downright difficult to see, demanding a lot of 
effort, a little dedication, and a good dose of luck. A strange departure 
from the normal warbler drill at Magee where you can just turn up and watch 
them dangle temptingly in front of you! A nice distraction from the main 
no-show event was a couple of obliging Mourning Warblers that time and again 
defied their usual shy reputations by hopping around in the open and 
allowing all and sundry to glass them near the Sportsmen’s Center. Aside 
from this there were the occasional Maggies, several female “tiger” 
warblers (Cape Mays), and a few Willow Flycatchers seemingly setting up 
territories there.

Back at the Magee Marsh boardwalk warblers were clearly a little thinner on 
the ground than in previous days, and we would welcome the widely predicted 
next big push in the coming days. However, a bad day in Magee could feasibly 
be a big day by many other place’s standards. The “usual suspects” 
were still in town – with Bay-breasteds still numerous, Northern Parulas 
buzzed from the treetops, Blackburnians thrilled us when they ducked in low 
down, while Magnolias and American Redstarts continued their recent 
dominance. The odd Blackpoll song still rang out from the treetops, although 
unlike recent days they decided to hang out up there for a change of scene, 
making them more challenging to come by. Black-throated Greens were 
conspicuously absent; although their numbers had been dropping off for the 
last few days, and the death knell of their spring was nigh anyhow. No new 
Prothons were reported but this did not seem to bother the birders blazing 
the boardwalk, as two pairs continue to make Magee their home for the 
summer, both still attending to nest-building duties on and off during the 
free BSBO–guided morning walks.

Away from the usual warbler antics thrushes were much in evidence, with 
Gray-cheekeds around although never as plentiful as the numerous 
Swainson’s Thrushes plying their trade in the leaf litter. Veerys too 
continued to shuffle through the underbrush, one particular individual 
appearing to have an Ovenbird shadowing its every move.

Away from the warbler party was several Ruddy Turnstones working the Erie 
shore north of the parking lot for the Magee boardwalk, and a Yellow-headed 
Blackbird sent waves of excitement through the Metzger Marsh crowd in the 
afternoon when a citrine-headed male cruised across the marsh around 4.30pm. 


In summary, the day should have been dominated by the sweet talk of the 
“special K” (Kirtland’s Warbler), however, while talk did center 
around it, this was mostly for all the wrong reasons as people dropped 
everything to chase it, only to arrive and find that it had gone the way of 
the pimpernel: “They seek him here, they seek him there…seek him 
everywhere”. Let’s hope the bird continues its stay at Magee and decides 
to adopt a more regular and predictable routine, or failing that let’s 
just enjoy the next wave of “immigrants” arriving on their northward 
journey over the next few days, as winds have shifted to the south and 
should reveal a new batch of birds for our viewing pleasure very soon!

Sam Woods/Tropical Birding (www.tropicalbirding.com)
Black Swamp Bird Observatory Bird Guide in Residence (www.bsbobird.org)
Lost in Birding Blog (www.samwoodsbirding.blogspot.com)


 

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