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.

“I am a Cerulean”, Greenville Watershed, SC, April 25, 2021

Cerulean Warbler has a song that is rather unique.  That is if you compare its buzzy, rising-pitch song to the primary songs of other eastern warblers.  But then again, if you consider alternate songs, both Parula and Black-throated Blue have similar buzzy songs that rise in pitch.  And once I even heard a Redstart giving a nearly perfect Cerulean song.  These are all sufficiently similar that in my role as a member of the NH Rare Birds Committee, I’m not likely to accept a record of a heard-only Cerulean.  Though of course Cerulean is quite a rarity as far north as NH, so any record generally deserves considerable scrutiny.  And with limited experience with Ceruleans in New England in general, I wasn’t feeling very secure in my ID’s of singing Ceruleans as well.

But all that was cleared up, at least for me, when I moved to western NC.  Soon after I arrived I heard about a new mnemonic for the Cerulean song – “I am a Cerulean”.  To my ear that’s a perfect description of their song.  And ever since knowing that mnemonic, I’ve been able to separate Ceruleans from those less typical songs of Parulas and Black-throated Blues.  Or even rogue Redstarts.

And all that came in handy while participating in the 2021 Greenville County Spring Migration Count.  The Count was initially scheduled for Saturday April 24, but that turned out to be a rainy day.  So I took advantage of the option to delay my counting to the 25th, which turned out to be dry but quite windy in the morning.  The key part of my territory is the Greenville Watershed which has tremendous deciduous woodland habitat – some of the highest elevation woodlands in SC.  There are just 2 roads that wind through this habitat.  My greatest bird numbers are along Saluda Road, principally because the road has next to no traffic and lots of opportunities to pull over or even just stop while on the road.  The other road I bird in the area is Old US Highway 25, which has a little more traffic and fewer places to pull over, so my tally along this road is typically a bit lower. 

Once again this area had great numbers of the higher elevation breeders, despite the chilly and windy conditions to start.  Notable tallies included 33 Red-eyed Vireos, 16 Ovenbirds, 36 Hoodeds, 15 Parulas, and 10 Wood Thrushes.  And as always one of the stars of this area is the Swainson’s Warbler – I had 6 singing males plus another silent pair.  But the best was yet to come. 

As I neared the NC/SC stateline on the upper end of Old US Highway 25 I started to look for a place to turn around and head back down the road.  There are several pretty sharp turns in this stretch of the road and limited shoulders.  But just as I neared a spot to pull over I heard what I thought was a classic “I am a Cerulean” call in the distance.  But were my ears playing games on me?  Luckily it took me just a few seconds to pull over and listen for the call again.  And there was the call, clear as day, coming from the canopy of an area of large deciduous trees – “I am a Cerulean” over and over again for at least 5 minutes.  Sure am glad to have learned that mnemonic so I could recognize the song so quickly even when I was driving along. 

This same bird was re-found by other birders the next day and again on the 29th.  Perhaps it’s going to be a local breeder.  There are no eBird records in Greenville County from June or July, though some range maps show Cerulean as a local nester in the area.

Cerulean Warbler was #285 for my SC state list.  SC was my 25th state for this somewhat elusive species (the blue-shaded states in my statebird map below).  The cross-hatched states are those where I still need Cerulean in its regular range.