West meets east: Townsend's Warbler

A text message arrived this morning, just as I was getting ready to head out somewhere in southern Chatham-Kent. My initial plan was to get to Erieau, hoping that the ENE winds would have exposed enough algae along the main pier to attract the interest of a migrating Purple Sandpiper or Red Phalarope. But the text message from Jim Burk and Steve Charbonneau changed all that: Jim had found a Townsend's Warbler in the subdivision just outside the Rondeau Prov Park gates. This is very much a western species whose Canadian breeding range is restricted mainly to BC and the Yukon, with a fringe along the Alberta part of the Rocky Mountains.

When I got there, no one was around right away, but Jim came back shortly after and the Townsend's Warbler was re-found in the red cedars. The very brief views did not allow for any photos to be taken. As time went on and more people showed up, the group of kinglets and chickadees which the warbler seemed to have been loosely associated with had gone quiet. After an hour and a half or so, I decided to check the north part of the park by the campground, where red cedars are abundant, thinking that it was possible the Townsend's had moved on. The birds there were quiet as well, and after a little while, I got another text message stating that the Townsend's had re-appeared in its original location. So back I headed, and this time the group of birders had grown to more than a dozen, all looking intently at the bird. It was flitting high up in the red cedars, mostly in bright sunlight but at times in the dark recesses of the cedars. The views through binoculars were excellent, but the contrasty conditions made it challenging for the digital camera. But some of the photos turned out okay.

 Although technically this was not inside the park boundary, it was only about 200 metres outside, and is well within the park's checklist area. This represents about the 5th record for the park. I was fortunate to have found the first one back on May 11, 1984, at the west end of the old Dillon Trail.

Although not conclusive, this bird is likely a fall male adult. This next photo shows a fairly dark throat, not as dark as a breeding plumage male, but certainly fits the fall male. Females typically have a pale throat.