Monhegan birding, 5.21.18 (till 12:30), LAWRENCE'S WARBLER

[Kristen Lindquist]

"I've never seen a birder get so excited about a pigeon!" --Fellow boat passenger, after witnessing me spot a Rock Pigeon flying over the Monhegan wharf today as our boat was leaving, making it our 99th (but not final) trip bird. I don't think I've probably ever been as excited over a pigeon! 

After all the birds of the last two days that pigeon--which are rare on the island--seems like the least of it. The warbler waves continued through this morning (and I'm sure very much so after we left!), with what seemed like another round of new birds coming to the island. 

Despite the rarity of the pigeon, the day's highlight, thanks to Lyle Brinker, was a female LAWRENCE'S WARBLER (Golden-winged/Blue-winged hybrid type; it's complicated). (Which reminds me, correction from my last post: no one reported seeing a Golden-winged Warbler on the island yesterday. The rumor I heard was wrong.) Northern Parulas were everywhere, as, seemingly, were singing Northern Waterthrush. Other warblers making a presence: singing Tennessees and Nashvilles, Magnolia, Palm, Black-throated Blue, Blackburnian, Blackpoll... Warblers continued basically everywhere. Our warbler total ended up at 23 species, with Orange-crowned (seen on Friday) our one miss. 

More vireos were around today, including Warbling, more Red-eyed and Blue-headed than had been previously seen, and PHILADELPHIA VIREO (at least 2). Singing Scarlet Tanagers competed aurally with all the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. (Another correction: what we had first thought was a female Scarlet Tanager at a suet feeder on Saturday turned out to be a SUMMER TANAGER upon closer inspection.) At least one more Chimney Swift was seen today, too, and our first phoebes of the trip. 

Seen by other birders this morning but not by me or my group: OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, Cape May Warbler, and something (undoubtedly cool) that I'm not remembering. 

In addition to spotting the Rock Pigeon from the boat, we also had a flyover Green Heron in the harbor, bringing the trip list of the group (group=me, Bryan Pfeiffer, Josh Lincoln, and Bill Thompson) to 100, followed up by Razorbills (2) and Common Terns on the trip back. 

We expected to be rained out for half this four-day weekend, so were happy that that didn't happen, and even happier with all the birds coming through! Who knows what amazing things were seen out there this afternoon...

Kristen

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Kristen Lindquist

website: www.kristenlindquist.com

haiku blog: klindquist.blogspot.com

"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." 

--Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama