Cerulean Warbler

4 May 2015 Cayuga ON. There were lots of first-of-the-years at the bird observatory today: the warm southerly breeze kept on delivering them. At first light a Whip-poor-will called from some distance away and by around 7.30 we could hear the noisy calls of Baltimore Orioles and they were all around us before long. As we watched a group of half a dozen Yellow-rumped Warblers gleaning insects in a budding Northern Hackberry (tree) we found a Tennessee Warbler.   On the census we watched small groups of Western Palm Warblers foraging low along woodland edges. My best birds of the day for a while were Yellow-throated Vireos calling raspily, but three Chimney Swifts wheeling and chasing high overhead, Warbling Vireos singing their tumbling scatter of notes from high in the treetops or a beautifully marked Black and White Warbler kept pressing to be Bird of the Day.

But the Bird of the Day was came as I prowled a stretch of rich woodland. I was enjoying a gloriously flame-faced Blackburnian Warbler as it worked its way around the newly opening buds of a Manitoba Maple, when I found that I was looking at a male Cerulean Warbler. This species is so uncommon that it took me a while to understand what I was seeing. Prior to today I have only knowingly seen one (perhaps two) Cerulean Warblers.

The species is being assailed from all sides, its best breeding grounds in North America have disappeared to make way for farmland and their wintering grounds in the Andes have been cleared for the cultivation of coca. This little bird is in trouble; it is listed as Endangered in Canada and Indiana and Threatened in Illinois and Wisconsin.

The beauty of today’s sighting was not only in the thrill of its rarity but also that it stayed around long enough for three of us to study it at length. My initial doubts and puzzlement vanished as it moved around, showing me all sides and at times turning its gloriously blue head and back to best effect. Such consideration allowed me to mentally eliminate any possible confusion with other species. Getting a photograph was a real challenge as it was always on the move and back-lit by a bright sky; still I managed a couple of reasonable shots; here they are.

The day didn’t stop delivering. Before we closed up around noon we had banded an Indigo Bunting, Magnolia Warbler and Ovenbird and seen a Great-crested Flycatcher; all great birds – all day.