Wilson’s Warbler, Cottonwood Trail, Spartanburg, SC, May 8, 2021

Wilson’s Warbler was a target of mine for both my NC and SC state lists when I moved to western NC.  I was lucky enough to find this rare but regular migrant in western NC in May 2020, plus had a most unexpected Wilson’s at my feeding station for several visits in December 2020 – the first December records for this species in Henderson County, NC.

But my Wilson’s Warbler luck wasn’t nearly as good in SC.  I was unsuccessful chasing after one seen at the Parkway Retention Pond in Greenville in May 2020.  And wasn’t able to find any on my own despite numerous trips to the Upstate during warbler migration seasons.  And then came a report from my friend Michael Robertson that he had found a singing Wilson’s at the Cottonwood Trail site in Spartanburg on May 7, 2021.  I couldn’t chase after it that day, and had other birding plans with Gary Harbour for the following day.  But going after a statebird was more important, plus it would be a lifebird for Gary.  So it was easy enough to talk Gary into going with me to Cottonwood Trail the next morning to give it a try.  Though I’m always worried that a spring migrant will only be around for one day as it hurries on to its eventual breeding area.  (Michael had also found the Wilson’s I chased after the previous year at the Parkway Retention Pond – I hoped my luck would be better this time.)

Gary and I arrived bright and early on the 8th and went right to the area where Michael had seen it the previous day – a brushy area near an old defunct metal tower near the footbridge over the river.  We watched and listened for a while at this spot with no luck.  So we expanded our search area to cover a few nearby brushy areas but still came up empty.  I was starting to have that sinking feeling again – yet another unsuccessful search for a Spring migrant that hadn’t stuck around. 

But then again, the wetlands at the site was surrounded by low wet brushy habitat that would be ideal for a Wilson’s.  So we decided to head out the elevated boardwalk into the marsh to cover other possible sites.  That’s when we started to hear a Canada Warbler a short distance away – that’s a pretty uncommon bird as well but not our target.  I often find migrant Canadas in the same type of wet brushy habitat as Wilson’s so maybe we were on to something.  And then practically right next to the Canada we heard the distinct trilling song of the Wilson’s Warbler – the first trill was higher and the second was lower, faster and shorter in length.  The bird continued to sing off and on for an hour along the brushy edges of the marsh, though without giving us any views (despite being no more than 20 feet away at times).  And then we finally got a visual of the bird surprisingly singing higher in the mature deciduous trees overhead - all yellow below, black cap, no white in the tail, no barring, greenish-yellow above, and no wingbars.  Great to actually be able to see such a handsome bird!

Wilson’s Warbler was #286 for my SC state list.  In my statebird map below the blue shaded states are those where I’ve seen this species; the cross-hatched states are those where I’ve yet to see it.  Although Wilson’s Warbler is a wide-ranging species, it is decidedly less common in the east, which is certainly borne out in my statebird map with all the cross-hatched states in the east.