American wood warblers (1 Viewer)

Hi there,

Autumn is getting close now and here in Iceland we plan to add at least two species of american wood warblers to the Western Palaearctic list While discussing this with several other birds the other day (including Edward the sheep-lover) we questioned ourself who has seen most species in Europe ?

One birder in Iceland has seen 10 species; Black-and-white, Yellow, Cerulean, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, Magnolia, Yellow-rumped, Palm and Blackpoll Warbler and Common Yellowthroat.

Personally I've seen all of the above except for that bloody Black-and-white :-C

Now I'm curious to know if there's anyone out there who has got more than 10 species in the WP (which must be) ?

Yann

I've been thinking about this and I reckon that a long-standing British birder who does plenty of twitching and is prepared to twitch Ireland might have seen 12, listed as follows :

Blackpoll, Yellow-rumped and Northern Parula (several opportunities)
Black-and-white Warbler (Scillies 1996 or Norfolk 1985)
Common Yellowthroat (Scillies 1984 or 1997)
American Redstart (Gibraltar Point 1983 I think)
Golden-winged Warbler (Kent 1989)
Northern Waterthrush (Portland 1996)
Magnolia Warbler (Scillies 1981 perhaps?)
Yellow Warbler (a couple in Shetland, I think the 1990 one stayed more than a day)
Blue-winged Warbler (Cape Clear 2000)
Canada Warbler (Loop Head 2006)

I think this lot were all twitchable, no doubt someone will put me right if not. I've omitted Blackburnian, Cape May, Wilson's, Chestnut-sided, Bay-breasted, Tennessee and Hooded Warbler and Ovenbird as I think all the British records have been untwitchable (unless the observer was bloody lucky).

Can any birder lay claim to all of these (or even more?)

Of course if they'd been to Iceland they could have some other species too. And what about the recent records from the Azores? Do they count?

I've managed just 5 myself, all on the Scillies except a Blackpoll in Kent in 1994.

In retrospect, having checked some literature, I'm now no longer convinced that Yellow and Magnolia warbler have been twitchable in Britain, which brings us down to 10. Your friend may be the WP record holder!

Yes but at least the last Ovenbird was eminently twitchable as it was my 500th bird in the British Isles! It was still fit when I saw it but of course they have a history of pegging out.

I have a mere 8 (5 Blackpoll, Yellow-rumped, 2 Parula, 3 Black-and-white, Yellowthroat, Golden-winged, Northern Waterthrush, Ovenbird). I dipped the Devon Chestnut-sided and last year's Canada by a day, excruciatingly, and the Yankstarts predate my twitching except the suppressed Hampshire bird. Others must have more because I certainly could have got some I passed up, generally for financial reasons.

American Wood Warblers have a hell of a lot of pulling power and I expect to have a pop at any accessible new ones that turn up this autumn - here's hoping!

John

You could check out the WP rankings on Netfugl, there may be someone with more than 10 there. You may have the edge in the number of self-found birds though.

But if you want to know who has the highest Empidonax list in the WP, then it's easy. It's ME*!

E

*and about ten other people in Iceland, including Yann ;-)

Clive,

wood warblers anywhere in the WP count, even the Azores (which shouldn't be in the WP, they're way out !! ). But still interesting to know how many anyone has seen within the British Isles...

Yann

Forgot about the Scillies Ovenbird the other year, plenty of people saw that. Thanks John.

Great birds. If ever in NYC in May there are a few spots nearby to literally see dozens of species. A few years ago I was visiting my mom in NJ and spent a few hours at one spot in Sandy Hook. I saw 12 species in one hour. People I met saw 25 that day within one mile of where I parked.

Great birds when you see them but jeez they can be frustrating as well.

There's a location in Polk County, Florida, called Saddle Creek Park, about which all the birding summaries make a point of saying "here, 36 species of wood warbler can be seen in a morning".

Well, that's as may be, but all I can personally confirm is that it's quite possible to see 1 species of wood warbler in a morning there.......

Clive Watson said:

In retrospect, having checked some literature, I'm now no longer convinced that Yellow and Magnolia warbler have been twitchable in Britain,

Click to expand...

Lets not forget the 3 day Yellow Warbler up here in 2005 (15/09/05), which was twitched by quite a few of the more enthusiastic birders that Autumn who managed to miss the 7 day bird on Barra the year before (not sure of dates though!)


Mind you, you would have to be very keen to see them, but they were very twitchable and showy.

Good point, so if we include one of those Yellows and the Scillies Ovenbird, and assume that said twitcher has been twitching since the early 80s and therefore will have got American Redstart, then 12 species in Britain and Ireland should be possible. Still no claimants though....