Lawrence's Warbler - 10 May 2026

Under clear skies and a cool 40ºF I drove to Petersburg State Game Area in Monroe Co. to look for Blue-winged Warblers. Yesterday both a Brewster's Warbler and Lawrence's Warbler were found next to the parking lot at Lulu Road so I was curious to see if they were still around. 

Brewster's Warbler and Lawrence's Warblers are hybrids of Golden-winged and Blue-winged Warblers.

As I drove Teal Road toward Lulu Road I heard a Brown Thrasher singing next to the road. Merlin also picked up Orange-crowned Warbler so I pulled over to look. After several minutes scanning the trees the Brown Thrasher flew to the field behind but not before I got a quick camera shot in flight.

I drove to the parking lot a Lulu Road and immediately heard a Golden-winged Warbler and Blue-winged Warbler singing their high-pitched, buzzy "Bee-buzz-buzz" and "Bee-fbtzzzz" calls, respectively. Unfortunately, I could not locate the singing birds no matter where I looked.

Thanks to Kurt Specht, who showed up a few minutes later and was much better at locating the calls, I was soon onto a singing Blue-winged Warbler.

The bird was high atop a dead snag and just a tiny speck in the camera, even at 600mm. Luckily, some cropping helped (along w/ a 51 Mpx sensor on the Sony a1 II). It flew off, so we walked the road to look for the hybrids.

A short-distance later Merlin picked a Dark-eyed Junco call. It turned out to be a singing Eastern Towhee that was not singing the "Drink-your" portion of the song and just belted out "Teeee".

Farther ahead east along Lulu Rd Kurt picked up another Blue-winged Warbler song, and this time it was coming from a Lawrence's Warbler (a Blue-winged Warbler w/ the Golden-winged Warbler's black throat and mustache).

Again, it was high atop a cottonwood tree and bouncing around quite a bit, but I managed a few long-distance photos before it flew off. A Northern Parula was also working the same branches.

As we continued walking to look for a Brewster's Warbler I heard the raspy call of a Scarlet Tanager. With a bit of work I was able to get us onto a gorgeous male bird far out in the field and high in the trees.

Kurt managed to get brief glimpses of a Brewster's Warbler but I never got eyes on it, so I headed back to the parking lot where another Blue-winged Warbler was singing in the open. Thanks again to Kurt for pointing it out to me. 

I would head back to the car and home to finish painting the Sunroom at Brownton Abbey.

Petersburg SGA, Monroe, Michigan, US
May 10, 2026 6:47 AM - 8:23 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.841 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:     Clear, 40F, 0-5mph; Kurt Specht
46 species (+1 other taxa)

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  3
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)  1
Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus)  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)  1
Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)  1
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)  1
Least Flycatcher (Empidonax minimus)  1
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)  1
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  1
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)  1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)  1
Northern House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)  1
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)  1
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)  2
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)  3
Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum)  1
Veery (Catharus fuscescens)  1
Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina)  1
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  2
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  2
Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina)  1
Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla)  1
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)  1
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  1
Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)  2
Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula)  2
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)  2
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater)  1
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)  1
Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla)  1
Blue-winged Warbler (Vermivora cyanoptera)  2
Lawrence's Warbler (hybrid) (Vermivora chrysoptera x cyanoptera (F2 backcross))  1     Reported yesterday in same area. Pics of Blue-winged Warbler w/ black throat and eye mask of the Golden-winged Warbler.
Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia)  1
Tennessee Warbler (Leiothlypis peregrina)  2
Orange-crowned Warbler (Leiothlypis celata)  1
Nashville Warbler (Leiothlypis ruficapilla)  1
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)  1
American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla)  1
Northern Parula (Setophaga americana)  2
Magnolia Warbler (Setophaga magnolia)  1
Northern Yellow Warbler (Setophaga aestiva)  3
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)  1
Black-throated Green Warbler (Setophaga virens)  2
Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea)  1
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)  2
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus)  1
Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S336221203

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