Hammond’s Flycatcher and Bell’s Vireo, Massachusetts, November 2016

That’s certainly a nice pair of rarities for New England – let alone in the same state and on the same day! 

While I was away on 2 weeks of business trips in early November there were several really nice rarities seen in New England.  These included Gray Kingbird and Bell’s Vireo on Cape Cod, and a White Wagtail on the NH coast.  Although each one stuck around for a while, one by one they were gone before I got back home.  The Wagtail was by far the biggest miss for me since it would have been a lifer.  Very disappointing.  At least I included a long weekend of birding in WA while I was away and found some great birds out west.

But just after I returned home there was a report of another Bell’s Vireo in MA, this one in Plymouth.  This bird had apparently been banded in the area weeks earlier, and was amazingly still sticking around.  There had been several Bell’s Vireos found in MA the last several years, but I was never able to chase after any of them.  So along with the frustration of missing the one on the Cape earlier in the month, I really wanted to go after this one.  So with a bit of effort I was able to clear my calendar in a couple days to give the Vireo a try. 

And just as I was finalizing my plans for the Vireo chase there was a report of an Empidonax spotted near Boston in Medford.  The next day that bird was confirmed to be a Hammond’s Flycatcher, only the 4^th record for MA.  I’ve had no luck chasing after western Empids anywhere in New England, so this was another one that I really wanted.  But I wasn’t sure if I could squeeze them both in in the same day, and I likely only had that 1 day available.  The Flycatcher was rarer than the Vireo, so the former was the higher priority target.  But I didn’t want to give up on the Vireo either.  That just meant I had to try for them both that day, and hope that whichever one I tried for first cooperated quickly so I could move on to the other bird early enough in the day while it would hopefully still be active.  Since the Flycatcher was the rarer target, that would be my first stop, and then I would drive down to Plymouth for the Vireo.

As I made my final preparations I researched the eBird reports and the listserve for detailed directions.  Unfortunately the Flycatcher was reported from 5 discrete locations in Middlesex Fells – that is if you believed the eBird reports.  Luckily a couple birders responded to my request for details giving me explicit micro-directions to the one spot where the bird was actually being seen.  (That level of detail used to be included in the listserve posts, but so few people post to the listserve anymore...)  At least the directions to the Vireo were pretty good, so I was optimistic I could easily find the proper location for that bird.  I was ready to go.

I arrived in Medford at 8, after an hour and 15 minute drive in ugly rush hour traffic.  The Flycatcher was not seen until 9 AM the previous day so I didn’t think I needed to be there too early.  After a 5-minute walk I could see the small wetlands up ahead where the bird was being seen.  And before I even got to the spot I could hear the bird giving its “pip” call in the distance.  Three birders were already there with binocs pointed over to the woods.  I quickly picked out the bird as it foraged for insects in the low tree branches and underbrush.  Success!

I’ve now seen Hammond’s Flycatcher in KS and MA as a rarity, along with most all of the states in its regular range (see my statebird map below).

The bird had just become active 5 minutes earlier so my timing was almost perfect.  And the bird continued to call and flick its wings and tail almost non-stop during the 5 minutes that I studied the bird.  Luckily it was most cooperative because I needed to get to Plymouth to try for the Bell’s Vireo.  I hated to “bird and run”, but within a few minutes I was back on the road heading south.

The Bell’s Vireo had been apparently pretty reliably seen or heard in thick brush at the edge of a cranberry bog in the Manomet portion of Plymouth.  At least the reports made it sound like it was reliable – there had been no negative reports but that doesn’t always mean that everyone that looked for it had been successful.  After a long 2 hour drive in more rush hour traffic, I finally got to Manomet and quickly found the proper bog.  With perfect directions I was standing at the edge of the brush at the northwest corner of the bog in hopes of finding the bird.  And within a minute I heard the Bell’s Vireo calling back in the brush, giving its “chee chee chee” call that was reminiscent of a Titmouse.  Sure was nice to have found it so quickly, but now I wanted to see the bird.  So I stared back into the brush where the call had come from fully expecting to see my target, but saw no movement at all.  I continued to peer into the thick brush, from multiple angles, but still with no luck.

Two hours later I was still watching and listening for the elusive Bell’s Vireo.  Although I could have just checked it off based on the calling bird, I wanted to see it as well.  While I was waiting, 4 different times I spotted a most cooperative Orange-crowned Warbler, which at times foraged just a few feet from me.  And each time I spotted the greenish-yellow bird I tried unsuccessfully to make it into the Vireo.  I also found a late Blackpoll Warbler, but had no Vireo calls or sightings.

It was nearing lunchtime and I was thinking about calling it quits when another birder arrived.  As he walked toward me he called ahead and said he had the Vireo.  But it turned out to be just the Orange-crown.  But then a couple minutes later he said he had the Vireo again – and this time it was indeed the Bell’s Vireo.  We got reasonably good views of the bird as it moved through the brush to the east, and even once saw it near the top of 20-foot junipers.  His timing was impeccable.  Five minutes later I re-found the bird at its “regular” area at the northwest corner of the bog.  Wonder where it had been for the last 2 hours.

MA was my 3^rd New England state for Bell’s Vireo, along with NH and ME.  Plus I’ve seen this species in most of the states in its regular range in the Midwest and Southwest.

 
I now have 413 species in MA, my second highest statelist.  And the Hammond’s Flycatcher was #436 for me anywhere in the 6 New England states.  After missing several New England potential ticks while I was away, it was good to get back to adding birds to my New England statelists.