Townsend’s Warbler, Charlotte, North Carolina, March 14, 2025

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.

The homeowner pointed out the trees in which the Warbler was most often seen, including a nice cedar that looked like one that a Townsend’s might visit in its natural habitat.  So I was all set and ready to wait it out.  At least for a couple hours anyway. 

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.)

Western Meadowlark, Charlotte, VT, June 2015

Western Meadowlark – first record for VT!  Yet another amazing find in a string of exceptionally rare birds found in VT over the last couple years that have included species like Prairie Falcon, Garganey, Pink-footed Goose, Black-tailed Godwit, etc.  I haven’t chased after any of those recent birds because they were all in northwestern VT, much farther than my self-imposed chasing limit of a 2-hour drive from home.  But for some reason I decided to chase after this one.

The Meadowlark was first discovered on a Wednesday singing as if on territory in a field in Charlotte.  I was out of town at the time, and wouldn’t be able to give it a try until Saturday.  But I was hopeful that although not discovered until mid-June, it might well have been present since Spring looking for a mate.  And if that was the case, it would likely stick around for at least a couple more days.  Sure enough it was heard and seen by many both Thursday and Friday, so I was quite optimistic.  I called Denny Abbott and we made plans to make the long drive to northwestern VT early Saturday.

That morning while on our 3 ½ hour trek Denny and I spent a fair amount of time listening to the songs of the 2 Meadowlarks, to make sure we could tell the 2 species apart when we got to Charlotte.  We were very well prepared when we approached the field in question, and we could see a small group of birders already there.  Although the small parking area was full, one car appeared to be ready to back out when we arrived.  I lowered the window to ask the driver if he was leaving, and before my car had even stopped I heard the Western Meadowlark’s song.  That was easy!  Over the next hour we had almost continuous scope views of the bird as it sang from a pole in the middle of the field.  I tried to get phonescoped pictures of the Meadowlark, but it was far enough away that this was the best I could do.

Western Meadowlark was number 270 for my VT list, which is by far my smallest of all my New England lists.  Though undoubtedly I’d have a lot more in VT if I had chased after all those great birds that have been seen there lately. 

Western Meadowlark was also the 430th species I’ve seen anywhere in New England.  VT is the first state where I’ve seen this species as a rarity after seeing it throughout its normal range (see my statebird map below).