Cerulean Warbler! - 06 May 2025

It rained all morning but slowed enough at noon for me to consider going out. I decided to drive down to Elizabeth Park and walk the trails, then head over to the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge Humbug Marsh Unit. Skies were cloudy and temps hovered around 55F. It drizzled while I drove and started raining just as I left Elizabeth Park.

Warblers were singing in the woods in the center of Elizabeth Park but no birds were lower than the tops of the trees. I had to rely on birding by ear to ID the birds that consisted of mainly Black-throated Green, Nashville, Blackburnian, and Ovenbird. 

I did manage a quick photo of a White-crowned Sparrow and saw a roosting Great Horned Owl chick(?) high in the trees.

Elizabeth Park (Trenton), Wayne, Michigan, US
May 6, 2025 1:07 PM - 2:03 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.432 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Cloudy, drizzle, 55F
32 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  36
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  2
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  2
Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)  1
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens)  1
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)  1
Least Flycatcher (Empidonax minimus)  1
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)  1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Corthylio calendula)  1
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)  1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)  1
Northern House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)  1
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)  4
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)  1
Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina)  1
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  2
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)  2
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)  12
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  1
Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia)  1
Nashville Warbler (Leiothlypis ruficapilla)  3
American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla)  1
Cape May Warbler (Setophaga tigrina)  1
Northern Parula (Setophaga americana)  2
Blackburnian Warbler (Setophaga fusca)  1
Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)  1
Chestnut-sided Warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica)  2
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)  3
Black-throated Green Warbler (Setophaga virens)  2
Wilson's Warbler (Cardellina pusilla)  1
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)  2
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S233891475

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

I then drove over to the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge's Humbug Marsh Unit and walked the short-loop trail. Things were pretty quiet except for a singing Carolina Wren. 

A Cerulean Warbler was found by Justin Labadie two evenings ago, and was refound again last evening, but I had no confidence that it would still be around today. But, on a lark I decided to walk the path past the north tip of Monguagon Delta west toward the Long-loop trail. There, I ran into Kaina Gonzalez, new partners Biologist at the Refuge, and she was camped out below the flowering crab that was now hosting a/the Cerulean Warbler!

I'd spend the next 30 minutes trying to photograph the singing male bird as it foraged among the flowers and tussled with an American Redstart. 

The Cerulean Warbler went silent just moments before Nicole LaFleur, Executive Director of the International Wildlife Refuge Alliance, showed up. She'd been looking for the bird and we were unhappy to now both be missing it. 

No sooner had she left that it suddenly appeared next to the trail in front of me and fed just a few feet away. I emptied a 160 Gb card photographing it at point blank range. Apologies for the number of photos... :)

Nicole would return after I sent her an email, and she, along with Diane Kovach, would see the Cerulean Warbler continue to forage in the area for the next several hours.

My last encounter w/ one of these birds was about 5 years ago at Magee Marsh in NW Ohio, and before that at Hudson Mills Metropark in the early 80's. Both times involved horrible looks in backlit conditions so I've always considered this a nemesis bird. Until today.

Thank you again, Kaina! :)

Detroit River IWR--Refuge Gateway (Humbug Marsh), Wayne, Michigan, US
May 6, 2025 2:17 PM - 3:19 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.877 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Cloudy, drizzly, 55F
24 species

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  6
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)  1
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  2
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)  1
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  2
Great Egret (Ardea alba)  1
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)  2
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)  1
Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)  1
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)  1
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)  2
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)  2
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)  1
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)  1
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)  2
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)  2
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  1
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)  1
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  2
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)  2
American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla)  1
Cerulean Warbler (Setophaga cerulea)  1     North trail between short and long loop trails in flowering crabs trees located between two open cattail marshes. Singing. Shoutout to Kaiah(?) from the refuge who put me on it. Photos.
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)  2
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)  2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S233921198

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)