Ceruleans on the border

Cerulean Warbler Setophaga cerulea

Cerulean Warbler Setophaga cerulea

Eastern Bluebird Sialia sialis

Master of camouflage

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Sphyrapicus varius

Whoops, I'm on the border...

  Up bright and crazy early this morn, to strike south with George — about as far south as you can get in Québec — the George Montgomery Sanctuary in Philipsburg, just a hair north of the border from Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge. We racked up 50-ish species on a morning that saw the heat, humidity, and bugs increase with each hour closer to high-sun.

  The bustling dawn chorus was lovely to take in, but it also reminded me that I have ears of crap, especially when it comes to warblers. I suspect that my auditory memory gets flushed down the shitter every winter, and I have to re-learn it all again in spring. Give me a millisecond on a blurred skulker with the bins, and I’m all over it. A common bird singing overhead for five minutes? Sad shrug.

  The target bird of the day: Cerulean Warbler. We heard at least two where the blue trail circles a ridge, so we staked out for a while, with no luck. We decided to also circle the ridge, and when we almost completed the loop, we found ourselves much closer to where the Ceruleans were singing. Pretty soon, one was singing from a tree very close by, and we got quick looks for about a minute, before it vanished in a puff of blue smoke. Got off a few dodgy record shots in a challenging mix of canopy gloom and stained-glass back-bright. George got some cracking recordings as well. Been a long time coming for this bird, high-five! Cerulean blue…cerulean blue…(X-files reference)…

  Lesser highlights included low single digits of Black-billed Cuckoo, Yellow-throated Vireo, Wood Thrush, and Red-bellied Woodpecker.

  Oh yeah, at one point I found myself in an odd clearing in the woods — like a power-line cut with no power lines. Then I saw a small white concrete marker, and spied a razor wire compound shimmering in the distance. Oops, I guess I almost bumbled over the Canada-USA border, hee hee.