[cobirds] Blackburnian Warbler at Grandview Cemetery (Fort Collins, Larimer)

I was in Windsor scouting a field trip that occurs tomorrow with the ornithology class at Front Range Community College when I got a phone call from Joe Mammoser about a tantalizing empid flycatcher he had just seen at Grandview Cemetery in Fort Collins.  Joe said the bird disappeared when the weed-whipping crew arrived and he never got a definitive look.  But I decided to head that way to check my patch.

Upon arrival, the general area of the northeastern corner of the cemetery along Grandview Avenue (formally Section 11 on the cemetery map) was alive with birds.  At least 25, maybe more, yellow-rumps were zooming about as if being tortured by electric current.  Mixed in were a handful of Ruby-crowned Kinglets, a few orange-crowns, a Plumbeous Vireo, a Western Wood-Pewee and lots of local riffraff like Black-capped Chickadees, Red-breasted Nuthatches, a few White-breasted Nuthatches and a Downy Woodpecker.  Sorting thru each individual for a potential "Waldo", I got a brief glimpse of what I thought was a Blackburnian Warbler.  The group was roaming wildly from tree to tree and I followed it thru the neighborhood and back into Section 11 for over an hour.  The Blackburnian showed itself again and I managed some terrible but voucher photographs (high in the tree, overcast sky, moving fairly fast, low light, you name it - definitely not a studio session with umbrellas, preselected Rocky Mountain fall color background and squeeky toy to elicit a fun reaction). 

I called Joe back and he made it all the way across town.  We walked the quiet cemetery and were heading to our cars when we got into what I was sure was the right group of birds again.  This was south of the entry bridge along the ditch and then moving east into Section 10 and north over the old stone office building.  Joe spotted the Blackburnian, we saw it interact somewhat agonistically with a pale Townsend's, and we also saw a Cassin's Vireo in the flock.  Then just like that, they were gone.  They are probably in the area.  Not sure about the chances of finding them tomorrow morning but the "marker" birds are yellow-rumps and the western wood-pewee which is giving an alternate vocalization from its "song".  The Blackburnian chip note is metallic but not as sharp as a typical Townsend's, given only very infrequently, but once you get onto it, is helpful in locating the bird amid the chaos of motion from its cohorts.

Key field marks: "normal" proportions (i.e. tail not short like Tennesee, not long like Yellow-rumped), wings black with bold white wingbars, back striped, crown somewhat striped, auricular patch darker than surrounding yellow, head with lots of pale yellow (supercillium, lore and malar), upper breast and throat color is a "glowing" yellow with just a tinge of orange, feint stripes on the flanks, undertail white.  And then there's the call note.

 

Dave Leatherman

Fort Collins