Hendrie Valley 20 April 2016. An interesting first and last today – or perhaps more accurately, a last and first. My last 2015 sighting of a Blue-headed Vireo was at the end of September. My first sighting of this year came today – in precisely the same place! This may not sound like a very big deal and I suppose it’s not, but I really like vireos of all species and this one came with a little element of intrigue; it was unusually bright lemon yellow below. So what? Well Blue-headed Vireos are smart looking little birds, (see photos below) broadly speaking they’re grey and olive-grey above, white below, and have bright yellow flanks and very distinct white spectacles. The point is that today’s bird was extensively yellow below, from its under-tail coverts to its belly; almost as bright yellow as its cousin the Yellow-throated Vireo. I just think this bird was at the extreme end of the yellow-flanks spectrum. Blue-headed Vireos are few and far between; we only see them on their way to and from their more northerly breeding grounds. It was also on the very early side of local spring arrival date records. An intriguing bird, a delight to see and easily my Bird of the Day.
The vireo had Bird of the Day competition. It was seen at the end of a census walk that started with a Pileated Woodpecker that called loudly and paraded long enough to allow us some tantalizing views. We found a single Blue-gray Gnatcatcher in the top of a stream-side Manitoba Maple, heard and saw a Pine Warbler perhaps staking out its territory in some tall White Pines, and several male Yellow-rumped Warblers. The yellow-rumps still have quite a long way to go to reach their breeding grounds. They were working over and through the understorey trees, gleaning insects and singing softly to themselves as they went.
I recall that September Blue-headed Vireo. Glad you found a Pileated Woodpecker in the valley.