[Maine-birds] CERULEAN WARBLER - heard only - Freeport, 5/1

Hi all,

 

I know what you are thinking, "heard only, huh?  Sure...."  Well, I probably would be thinking the same thing, so I don't blame you, but here's the story.

 

While walking the dog this morning at Hedgehog Mountain Park (off of Pownal Road in Freeport - Delorme Map 6: C-1), I heard a singing Cerulean Warbler off of the Wentworth Trail at about 7:20 this morning.  It was one of those moments: "I hear a Cerulean Warbler." Take two steps. "Wait...I hear an (expletive deleted) CERULEAN WARBLER" as the brain finally connects a recognized sound to the current location. 

 

The bird sang clearly, and fairly closely, 6 times, with the last two bouts being slightly further away than the first 4.  Unfortunately, I was never able to even glimpse a bird.  I worked the area for about 30 minutes to no avail.  Since I was just out for a walk with the dog, I didn't even have my phone on me, so I was unable to make a recording.  I returned about 1 hour later and thoroughly worked the area, and surveyed some nearby roadsides by bike in the direction the bird was seeming to travel.

 

Although Black-throated Blue Warblers (BTBW) can sing a surprisingly similar song to Cerulean Warbler (CERW), this was a classic - "textbook" if you will - CERW.  Three-parted, with each of the three phrases being a bit higher and faster than the preceding, starting with a low, very BTBW-like "bee-bee-bee," and ending with a rapid trill.  Although similar in pattern to a Blackburnian Warbler (BLBW), this bird never remotely approached the speed and high pitch of a BLBW.  An aberrant Northern Parula was also ruled out. 

 

Furthermore, the bird was in tree-tops, and likely-not-coincidentally it was on a drier American Beech-dominated ridge with a semi-open canopy - not unlike one of its two favored breeding habitats.   BTBWs usually sing lower in the canopy, or from the understory, and at least the breeders at Hedgehog are found exclusively in areas with a rich, dense understory dominated by Striped Maple.  Circumstantial evidence at best, I know.

 

So take this report for what its worth.  While I am not sure how "chase-able" this bird would be, if anyone would like to try, I can offer more specific directions.  Or, of you swing by the store, I'll draw you a map (the trails are not visible on Google Maps under the closed canopy).  I also plan on checking again tomorrow.

 

 -Derek

 

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Jeannette and Derek Lovitch
Freeport Wild Bird Supply
541 Route One, Suite 10
Freeport, ME 04032
Ph: (207)865-6000/Fax: (207)865-6069
www.freeportwildbirdsupply.com
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