Kirtland’s Warbler

May 5, 2012  Kirtland’s Warbler – the impossible bird. Impossible on at least three accounts: 1) There’s less than 2,000 of them in the world; so it’s excruciatingly rare. 2) Kirtland’s winter in the Bahamas and spend the summer in Michigan. ..and 3) I’m never going to see one unless I go to Michigan or the impossible happens, which is to say a Kirtland’s Warbler comes to me.

Today a Kirtland’s Warbler came to me; well pretty darn close.

I was sure my bird of the day would be a Sandhill Crane.  We saw one fly over the bird observatory this morning while we were doing the census.  We heard it’s  bugling gurgle from afar, a bit like a like a fading turkey. We looked at each other in puzzlement, then the light went on – Sandhill Crane.  Most of us managed to get our binoculars on it; they’re so gangly and wonderful. I was so certain it couldn’t be beaten that I turned to my companion and declared that, come what may, it would be my Bird of the Day.  And in many ways it still is.  But then the Kirtland’s Warbler showed up.

Despite my protestations that I don’t drive to see rare birds, I have to acknowledge that today I did.  Not far, just a ten- minute drive.  As I arrived at the reported location the knot of camera-heavy enthusiasts peering up at a Norway Spruce confirmed that it was still around.  It was an obliging little mite, working over the tips of the spruce and every time it hopped an explosion of bright yellow pollen gave away its location. Also every time it hopped into full sunlit view another explosion, this time of camera shutters, clicking faster than a Chipping Sparrow choir could manage, confirmed that a celebrity was in town.

So I saw it and loved it; an attractive yellow and slate-blue warbler that should be able to finish somewhere near the Top 10 of any beauty contest.  Here it is, just two of my for-the-record shots.