On the morning of March 7 a text came across the local Blue Ridge Birders text group that a Townsend’s Warbler was coming to a feeder in Charlotte. Although it was first being reported on the 7th, there was a rumor that it had been present for a couple weeks. So it certainly seemed to be reliable. That would be a great bird to chase after and try to add to my NC state list. It was within my self-imposed 2-hour driving limit to chase rarities – well sort of. And the homeowner was quite accommodating, allowing birders to watch his feeders from inside his house.
Now it just needed to stick around until I was free. Unfortunately, I had commitments for each day
over the next week and wasn’t free until the 14th. And even on that day I needed to be home by
about Noon. I kept watching the reports
and the Townsend’s Warbler continued to be seen quite regularly at the feeder. That is until the 13th when it wasn’t seen
until the afternoon. That was more than
a bit troubling, but I decided to go for the chase after all, though giving it
maybe just a 50/50 chance of success.
After an early 6 AM departure I arrived at the Warbler site just
after 8 and the homeowner met me at the door.
He said he hadn’t seen it yet that morning but I was welcome to come
inside to watch the feeders. That
sounded inviting, but instead I opted to watch for it in the backyard. Not only are the feeders visible from the
yard, but the bird was also sometimes being seen from the yard both before
coming to the feeder and after leaving it.
The yard was quite birdy, with nearly constant activity at
the nice feeding station. Here is a
picture of the backyard deck – the Warbler was coming to the suet feeder toward
the left.
Just after I arrived a bright yellow Pine Warbler dropped in
to eat mealworms – that got my heart racing momentarily but it wasn’t the
target bird. Then no more than 5 minutes
later a small bird flew into a deciduous tree overhead. I got a glimpse of yellow on the bird as it
landed, but was it just another Pine? I
got it in my binoculars and it was instead the target Townsend’s Warbler! It then flew to the feeder where I got these
“digi-bin” pictures.
Over the next 90 minutes the bird visited the feeder roughly
every 30 minutes, each time pausing in several different trees in the back yard,
including the juniper. And a couple
times it even sang softly. What a great
show, especially after its limited visits the day before.
I can’t thank the homeowner enough for his hospitality!
My state bird map for this species is inserted below. The light blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen it in its regular range. The cross-hatched states are those where I’ve yet to see it in that range. And the 4 dark blue-shaded states are those where I’ve seen Townsend’s Warbler as a rarity – one I found on my own in NH, at feeders in MA, as a woodland stakeout in RI, and now at feeders in NC. Townsend’s Warbler was #327 for my NC list. (Interestingly, Townsend's Warbler was #327 for my RI list as well.)
