ML490392821

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

*RARE* First for Halethorpe. Ties high count for Maryland. Insanity. Just utter ridiculousness. CONW #1 (8:20am): I was working through a mixed flock at the treeline right where the path turns into the woods, when I heard what I thought was a CONW chip coming from a little ways behind me (between the treeline and the Patapsco). Then, the bird sang. It SANG. A song that I've never heard in person before, but instantly recognized as a CONW. Trembling with excitement, I scrambled to get my phone out to record, and was able to get two phrases on record (unfortunately I was walking at the same time I was recording, so not the best audio quality, but the song is clearly there). I walked about thirty feet, and found an adult CONW perched about six feet off the ground. I watched it leisurely work its way towards the top of the tree, then sit still for about thirty seconds before darting into the weeds. Pics. I would love to know if there are any Baltimore records, or even MD records of a CONW singing. Something I never thought I'd hear in Baltimore! CONW #2 (10:55am): After taking a minute to recover from my euphoric shock, I continued up the woods trail, slowly working my way north along the bottom side of the ponds. I had gone a little over a half a mile when I came across a BTBW down low. I looked up, and saw the trees were dripping with birds; an entirely different mixed flock from the 8:00am one, with about 11 species of warbler in it. As I was trying to sift through all of them, I suddenly heard what I was sure was ANOTHER fragment of a CONW song. Just one, and then it went silent. It seemed impossible that it could be the same bird; this was definitely a different flock, and I was a long way from the original bird. But two CONWs singing in fall? I waited for five minutes for the bird to vocalize again, but no luck. So I continued up the trail. I had only gone about twenty feet before a bird flushed off the ground from my right. I put my bins up, and boom--another adult CONW. Craziness. This bird was much more flighty, only staying still for a quick pic before it flew back off the path. Pics. CONW #3 (11:02am): This one was just nuts. I was scanning in the direction of where CONW #2 had just disappeared, and got distracted by a group of TEWAs. I put my bins down to reorient, when I saw a large warbler walking along a bare branch, about 15 feet off the ground, completely out in the open. I lifted my bins, and found myself looking at a brown-hooded immature CONW. This bird was unbelievably cooperative. It never let me get too close, but it never flew too far either, and stayed above eye level the entire time I observed it. And I observed it for more than a half-hour. In that time, I was finally able to appreciate why it is that CONWs seemingly "disappear" after flushing: they don't move. At all. I watched this bird fly into the top of a small tree, then sit in one spot, without moving, for TWENTY-ONE MINUTES (as documented with real-time texts to friends and photo timestamps). In twenty-one minutes, it turned in place just once, that's all. I could have moved on after ten minutes or fifteen minutes, but who walks away from a perched CONW? I actually - no joke - did a mini-hawkwatch as I was hanging with this CONW, that's when I got the BWHAs. After the bird finally dropped down to the ground, I went on my way, only to flush it up again just a couple of minutes later. Pics. Unbelievable. Instantly one of my best birding experiences, and one heck of a birthday gift. (Side-note, I know my perspective might be skewed, but this experience further bolstered a recent assertion of mine that Mourning Warblers are more difficult to get than Connecticuts. As in, I have seen nine CONWs since my last MOWA (August 2020) . . . )

Technical information

Model

NIKON D7200

Lens

200.0-500.0 mm f/5.0-6.0

ISO

640

Focal length

500 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/6.3

Shutter speed

1/500 sec

Dimensions

3641 pixels x 2427 pixels

Original file size

5.77 MB