Hi Everybody,
It's been a while, but I occasionally follow up on VA-Bird posts through
Siler's website since I moved from VA to CA a couple of years back. I have
been reading the recent posts on trying to find Kirtland's Warblers with
interest, and wanted to comment. This is a bird I attempted to find on
numerous occasions during Spring and Fall migration in Virginia, with no
success. I never did venture to the western part of the state for this search.
I had done some extensive research in the known migration patterns of the
species and came up with some interesting information.
My first realization was that Spring may be the least opportune time to search
for this bird, as, despite the possibility of hearing one being real, some
evidence I have read suggests they may make a nearly non-stop flight to
Michigan in Spring, spurred on by hormones. I suppose searching the morning
after a storm between now and about May 25 might be the most productive. I
believe there is some precedent for Spring birds being found in Virginia, if I
recall correctly.
In Fall, migrants of course are not in as much of a hurry, so the chances seem
to grow, and they may take less direct routes back to the Bahamas. I have
always been intrigued by the below-linked account of a bird caught multiple
times at Powdermill in southwest PA over an 11 day period, which always seemed
to return to an overgrown hawthorn/crabapple thicket. This suggests an
affinity for that particular habitat, so searching those areas in perhaps any
part of the state during Fall migration might be most productive, especially
during the wind conditions described in the article.
http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Wilson/v085n04/p0417-p0428.pdf
Take care, and I look forward to visiting the area again soon.
Jay Keller,
San Diego, CA
