Yellow-throated Warbler Daily Update (rare bird in Maine) & News

Warbler Visitation News:
Well, we had a very satisfied "customer" over to view the warbler today. Josh Fecteau came up from Kennebunkport and visited twice today. His first visit was between 7:52am-9:30am, and did not yield a sighting. However, he got very lucky from 12:43pm - 1:22pm. He said, "The warbler was present my entire visit." (Drew mentioned that Josh spent time standing at the well and then moved over to the pallets to get a different angle.) 

Photos courtesy of Josh Fecteau

Here is Josh's entry on ebird: 

"continuing rare bird | present for my entire visit, spending almost the entire time in the sun up against the foundation of the house (see photos); made a few trips to feed on the ground at the base of the "suet tree", but quickly returned to the sunny spot; the bird was not super active as has been previously reported; either s/he was taking a breather or s/he is suffering some ill effects of the recent cold temperatures." 

Visit Josh's website, New England Natural History & Wildcrafting. 

Laurie's Update and Way Cool News:

Animated gif by Drew Haines. Click on it for a larger view.

Here is an animated gif that Drew created of the warbler. The photos are from the first set that I shot through the kitchen window on Dec. 30th. Fun!

Read All About It: Jeff and Allison Wells wrote a news article on our Yellow-throated Warbler in the Boothbay Record today. Check it out! 

And, it seems that there are more of these Yellow-throated warblers in Maine than we know of, as seen by the comment left at the bottom of the article. I wonder how many people have seen one or more of these birds at their feeders. With a warming climate, maybe Yellow-throated warblers are becoming more common of late. I know that I was surprised to see tufted titmice when I arrived in Maine 15 years ago. I had to go out and buy an updated bird book to realize that they were now common in Maine.

A Birder's Words of Advice:  Ralph Eldridge's birding tips (he is my new mentor;-)

It looks like another bit of the pattern which I experienced is playing out for you as well. Fast visits to the suet, often followed by foraging nearby. Also, intervals between visits that tend to range from 15 to 30 minutes, but can be an hour plus.

Those quick, snatch and go visits are awfully easy to miss, giving the impression that the bird isn't around. I found that my warbler made lots more visits than sighting success would seem to indicate. 

I saw that missed sightings were invariably because:
(a) the birders weren't observant enough to catch the lightning feeder visits;
(b) the birders had tunnel vision and focused only on the feeder;
(c) the birders came at the least productive times;
(d) the birders figured it was an easy "tick" and gave up way too soon; or
(e) all of the above.
There's bound to be good and poor days, but overall it looks like you're having a bit of fun with the experience and that's great. 

Best regards,
Ralph.