“Probably
MacGillivray’s Warbler at Odiorne along east side of Boy Scout Trail” – that
was the text that came across on Steve Mirick’s rare bird text chain. Then a few minutes later I received this text
– “DEFINITELY a MacGillivray’s Warbler”.
A first NH state record! It was
early Labor Day morning and I wanted to run right out of the house to give it a
try. But I had all day commitments at
home and couldn’t break free.
But
what about tomorrow? If it stuck around
I could head out pre-dawn, and maybe even get back home before anyone was awake. But that would be a big if. Sometimes fall migrants stick around for a
few days, but often they are one-day wonders.
The bird continued to be seen off and on into the early afternoon so
that was good news. And with southerly
winds predicted overnight, perhaps the bird wouldn’t want to continue to
migrate south. That is if this western
rarity even wanted to migrate south at all.
So I planned for an early trip to Odiorne Point State Park the next
morning, optimistically hoping for the bird to continue at least into that next
day. Not surprisingly the MacGillivray’s
had spent much of its time skulking in low vegetation, especially patches of
goldenrod, right along the trail. And
most importantly, it was often quite vocal, giving series of sharp chip notes
reminiscent of a Cardinal. So I had a
good idea where to look and what to listen for.
I
arrived at Odiorne at about 7 AM and quickly headed to the beginning of the Boy
Scout Trail as it’s called just off the southern tip of the parking lot. As I arrived at the first patch of goldenrod
I could see 3 other birds up ahead – they hadn’t had the bird but had just
arrived. It was a pretty chilly morning
and likely this insect-eater’s food wouldn’t be active yet, so perhaps the
target bird wouldn’t be moving around yet either.
I
started to head back to the car to get a light jacket, and just as I neared the
beginning of the trail I heard several sharp chip notes coming from the
brush. I stopped in my tracks, and
listened intently – there it was again.
I got another birder on these chip notes, which soon became louder. We both peered into the vegetation where they
were coming from, but saw no movement.
Then it was silent. I turned to
the other birder and remarked that I thought that was the MacGillivray’s. The birder I was with happened to have heard
and seen the bird yesterday, and she agreed that those call notes sounded like
what she had heard yesterday.
So
the bird was still around, but now I wanted a visual. Unfortunately I had no other activity from
the thicket for quite some time – no visuals or other chip notes. It was now 8 AM and there were at least a
dozen birders there with me searching for the bird. But no one had any sightings. Then I heard the sharp chip notes again, and got
another birder on the calls. We listened
as the MacGillivray’s gave a series of 12-15 call notes from low in the
goldenrod thicket. Then it was quiet
again. The calls were coming from just
15 feet away but we saw no movement at all.
Very frustrating… I stayed until
about 8:45 when I had to head home, confident in the fact that I had heard the
bird, but disappointed that I didn’t have a visual.
Later
in the day there was one brief visual sighting of the MacGillivray’s from this
area, and another sighting the next day as well. And then amazingly the bird was re-sighted about
a week later elsewhere in the park, a good half mile away! Maybe it will stick around well into the
fall.
MacGillivray’s
Warbler was #364 for my NH list, joining MA as my only New England state for
this rare western vagrant. I’ve also
seen this species throughout much of its regular western range in the US and
Canada, though I still need it in AZ and MT as a regular breeder. Not to mention I found one years ago as a
rare spring migrant in ND. (see my state
and province maps below)
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