Wilson’s Warblers were being reported almost every day in mid-May from Swan Point Cemetery in Providence. Although a key target of mine, and one I missed by just a few hours the week before, my work commitments prevented me from getting to Swan Point to try for it. Finally I had an upcoming morning free, so I planned to get there soon after dawn that day to see what kinds of migrants had arrived overnight. Unfortunately, the weather the night before my planned trip was not very conducive for migration - cool with light northwest winds. Undeterred, I decided to give it a try anyway.
I met up with a birding friend at 7, and we
headed to the southern part of the cemetery.
This area is a bit wetter and brushier than most of the rest of the
cemetery, so more likely to harbor a Wilson’s Warbler if one was around. Birding started pretty slow with just a few
late migrants here and there. But then
we found an area with a little more song so we decided to stick with this spot
for a while. There were several Redstarts,
a Magnolia, a few Blackpolls, and a Parula as migrants, along with the
ever-present Yellow Warblers. Then I
heard a distant trill – could it have been a Wilson’s? I took a few steps in that direction and it
sang again – it was indeed a Wilson’s Warbler!
Unfortunately it never sang again, but good enough to check it off.
Wilson’s Warbler was number 322 for me in
RI, and the 236th species I’ve seen in each of the 6 New England states. My statebird map below shows that I’ve seen
it throughout most of the country, with the obvious exception being the
southeast where it is less common.
Wilson’s warbler 2 map
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