The Invisible Warbler

The weather was picture perfect this past weekend. The temperatures were in the seventies and plenty of sunshine coming our way. I made a visit to Devil's Hopyard in East Haddam in hopes of finding a Cerulean Warbler. I had a brief glimpse of one during a visit to East Rock Park in New Haven. The view was limited enough that I decided it didn't qualify to make it on my life list. There is an excellent book about where to look for birds in this state called Finding Birds In Connecticut. It gave me some ideas about where to search for the Cerulean Warbler within this park.

I walked the red trail working my way through the woods at a pace so slow that turtles were passing me. I did not encounter as many species of birds as Iexpected. Red-eyed Vireos, Wood Thrushes, and Ovenbirds seemed to be around in good numbers. I discovered that I could draw in a Red-eyed Vireo by making a kissing sound. I had one pop up on a branch right next to me but somehow managed not to get a decent photo. Most of the thrushes and ovenbirds that I saw were skulking around piles of branch debris or hiding within the shadows of trees. I had more luck birding by ear than by eye. Maybe I should have tried birding by nose. Do you know what I like about this park though? It doesn't seem to get overly hot or buggy here even in the summer.

There were a few Worm-eating Warblers in the area. They seem to like these type of rocky slopes. I had one nice view of one just across the stream. It was flying from one bush to another picking some sort of bugs off of the back leaves. The bird was never more than four feet from ground level.

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It wasn't until I was about to call it quits for the day that I heard it. "It" was the sound of a Cerulean Warbler. I could hear their song but could not seem to locate them. It finally wandered off to a different area or maybe it just stayed silent. I had one of those sore throats that makes it painful to swallow and it sapped me of my energy. I decided to come back to the exact same area the following morning. When Sunday morning came, I was right at the same location at 7am sharp. I could hear Black-throated Green Warblers in the background but there was no sign of the Cerulean. I found a relatively flat rock that offered a nice view of the river. It was covered with lichens which gave me an idea. I stretched out on the rock and laid flat on my back. It really was surprisingly comfortable and I was able to look up into the trees without having to worry about a stiff neck. After about half an hour , I started to hear Cerulean Warblers again. I waited patiently hoping that one of these birds would come into view. It never happened. I walked down to the river and could hear them so clearly. They seemed to be so close but I wasn't even able to detect movement. It was very frustrating! I stayed in the area for an hour but never even caught a single glimpse of one. I saw a report from a birder on listserver about numerous ceruleans seen over at Hartman Park in Lyme. Using the information in this report would have been like copying someone else's homework. I wanted to find one on my own. I can be kind of stubborn that way but that's part of the fun. This species is now officially on my most wanted species list.

On the way out, I came across another shy warbler singing it's song. It was a Black and White Warbler. I didn't get a glimpse of that one either so here's a photo of one during a visit to Portland Reservoir.

I made a quick stop over at Machimoudus Park on my way home. Machimoudus is a reliable place to find Orchard Orioles like these in the Spring and Summer. With the color of it's breast, I could imagine someone might confuse one with a Robin.


I also had a little adventure trying to get a photo of a Hooded Warbler at Hurd Park. I was trying to take a photo without disturbing the activity of the bird which is an uncommon breeding species in Connecticut. It was flying to different trees but always managed to find a location that had me looking into the sun. The best I could manage was a very brief clip of this Hooded Warbler singing it's song. If you look very closely you can get a brief glimpse of its black hood.