Worm-eating Warbler at Lake Park

Jeremy4 Comments

With all the rare birds seen on Tuesday, I was hoping for a few more on Wednesday. Tuesday night was WSW and SW winds, so I knew it would be very good in the morning. Wow was it ever! I started at Warnimont Park just after sunrise and spent just over 5.5 hours there. When I opened the truck door, the air was filled with warbler songs. I knew right away how it would be. I had huge numbers of warblers including, 14 Golden-winged, 8 Blue-winged, 14 Orange-crowned, 33 Nashville, 14 Northern Parula, and 19 Black-throated Green! I also found 3 rare ones, Yellow-throated, Prairie and Cerulean Warblers. Most things were up rather high and photo opportunities were not that great. For the morning, I ended up with 103 species and 25 warbler species! Those kinds of numbers are a week early, but it’s what you get with the right weather. Around 10:30ish it started to get rather windy, and I would say by 11:00 it was pretty quiet. The walk back to the truck produced almost no birds, so I decided to grab lunch and call it a day. I got home, and I see a report of a Worm-eating Warbler (WEWA) at Lake Park. So, I figured I would go down there and try for it. It just so happens that it was also found in the north lighthouse ravine. Add another rare bird to that ravine for the year! I got down there just after 2:30pm. I ran into a friend, and he hadn’t seen it or knew of anyone that had. I kind of thought that may be the case too. These birds are tough to find, and the ground vegetation in the ravines is already green and 6″ tall. I walked in from the west side, so that the light was at my back. I walked extremely slow through the ravine, watching for any movement on the ground. I found 13 Ovenbirds in the first half of the ravine! Every time I saw one, I got excited, thinking it was the WEWA. About halfway down the ravine, I was watching an Ovenbird eat a moth, when something moved and caught the corner of my eye. I turned slightly and there it was, only 25′ in front of me working a fallen tree. I quick shot off a few doc photos. At that moment, a couple of girls were walking up from the bottom. I tried waving to them to stop, but they weren’t paying attention and by the time they did, they had gotten a little too close. The bird was sandwiched in by us and it flew around them and up the ravine. When they were passing, they asked what was going on, so I explained it to them. I didn’t think I would get to see it again, but someone was walking along the top of the ravine, approximately where it flew to, and they flushed it back down. I walked further down, about 35′ and waited for about 10 minutes. I didn’t see anything resembling a WEWA. I moved about 15′ further down from there and saw a few birds move. Two were Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and the other was the WEWA! It popped up into a small shrub only 10′ or so away from. It started singing very faintly and was even singing some type of song I’ve never heard from them. Normally they have a dry insect-like trill, but he was singing a bunch of different warbles before and after shorter than usual trill. If I had not seen him doing it, I would have never guessed that it was a WEWA. The bird kept working, slowly down the ravine, away from me. A friend came walking up from behind and asked if I had anything and I said I had the WEWA! He stood next to me, and I got him on it. We watched it for about 5 minutes, and it popped out into the open with a potato bug in its bill. It sat there for a good 20 seconds. Maybe it could hear our shutters and froze, which happens to me a lot, even though I had mine on silent (still makes some noise). It then flew across the ravine bottom to the south side and gave me an excellent view on a bare branch! After that we lost it. My friend moved on, and I stayed down there. I didn’t think I would see it anymore. A few other people walked through and didn’t see it as well. I made my way back down the ravine and I was standing by the water for a few minutes. I had noticed that several of the other warblers that were in the area the entire time, were now taking a bath. All of a sudden, in flies the WEWA, right into the water. Woah!!! He’s literally only 15′ away from me taking a bath! Unbelievable!!! I spent a little over 2 hours in that ravine and saw the bird 3 times. I was certainly rewarded for being patient and quiet. I took a walk around the top side of the ravine looking for the White-eyed Vireo again but didn’t see it, so I called it a day. Another awesome day with icing on the cake! Photos below are from the afternoon of 5/1. Enjoy!

Worm-eating Warbler at Shorewood Nature Preserve 5/8/23

JeremyAdd comment

I went to Shorewood Nature Preserve this afternoon/evening to look for the reported Summer Tanager. The rain was supposed to stop by 2pm, then by 5pm and it’s still raining as I type this at 9:30pm. The local meteorologists sure know how to do their job!!! So, I was stuck walking around this park in the rain. Also reported from there this morning, were Yellow-throated, Prothonotary and Hooded Warblers. Of course, I wanted to get photos of those three as well. When I arrived, I walked down the bluff, headed on the north path and made a loop. It was very quiet, and I didn’t see or hear much. I then went towards the lake and found a small pocket of warblers, mostly Palm and Yellow-rumped. I walked the beach north, to the park edge and still nothing. I walked back to the path, and I finally found the Summer Tanager. It was feeding high in the treetops. I watched it for a little while and it never came lower or cooperated for that matter. I gave up on it and focused back on finding the warblers. I headed back north and as soon as I crossed the large fallen tree, a dull warbler jumped up from the ground in the raspberry bushes. I assumed it was an Orange-crowned, since they are usually low in the thicker growth and the color matched. It was very close to me, but there were to many branches to clearly see. I looked through my binoculars, tried to quickly focus and got a fast glimpse of black stripes on the head. I knew right away, Worm-eating Warbler!!! I love finding these guys. Of course, I lost it right away. There is so much thick undergrowth in the park, I wasn’t sure if I would find it again. I continued on the path and ended up circling back around to where I first saw it, no luck. I walked forward again going towards the lake and taking a different path north. I started getting close to the black fence at the park edge and saw a bird fly a short distance. I got it in my binoculars, and it was a Northern Waterthrush. Sigh. Then I saw something right next to the waterthrush move and there it was! A couple of weak chip notes and it was gone again, flying towards the brush pile at the base of the bluff. I didn’t know if it went in there or continued up the bluff. So, I set up shop by the brush pile and waited. After 15 minutes or so, it popped out and provided some pretty short, decent looks. I was shooting in silent mode on my camera, but I think it still heard or maybe just was knew I was there, because it flew up the bluff a short distance. At that point, I figured I wouldn’t see it anymore. By this time, I had already spent almost 3 hours walking around in the rain. I made one more quick loop through the entire park and most singing had already stopped, so I called it a night. I did find Blue-winged and Hooded Warblers though and ended with 18 warbler species. I missed on the Yellow-throated and Prothonotary Warblers. I guess I will need to wait for a later date with those two. Photos below are from this evening, while rain soaked and a chilly east wind. The pin location below is approximately where I last saw it. Good luck! Enjoy!

https://maps.app.goo.gl/V7ijcXd6hqPuY8Rp9

Worm-eating Warbler at Whitnall Park

Jeremy6 Comments

This morning I found a Worm-eating Warbler foraging along a creek at Whitnall Park. I kept hearing leaves crunching and when I finally turned to see what it was, it was already within 25′ of me. I didn’t even need binoculars to confirm, I could see clearly with my eyes. I couldn’t believe it! I turned my camera, and it quickly took off. I watched where it went, and then I saw a bird zoom out of the approximate area. I got my binoculars on it, and it turned out to be a female Magnolia Warbler. I had lost it! I then found it and lost it two more times, over the 2 hours. I have no idea where it went. I figured I would chase the reported, Yellow-breasted Chat at Lake Park. I spent a little over 2 hours down there and decided to go back to Whitnall in the late afternoon. After walking around about an hour and a half, I found it again, but way to the west of where I originally had it. The bird moved about an 1/8 mile or so. This time, I relocated it in a wider open area, without all the dense shrubs. I got off a few pictures and down it went into the water, bath time! So exciting to be able to see this rare warbler in the water! Photos below are from early this morning and late this afternoon. Enjoy!