Springtime eastern vagrant collection in Point Loma

[All photographs copyright, Gary Nunn 2015] – Things were going pretty slow at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery this morning until I reached the southeast corner. This part of the cemetery has delivered many rare birds and my ears pricked up when I heard a Chestnut-sided Warbler Setophaga pensylvanica singing from the far corner! I quickly located it as it moved around inside a twiggy Myoporum bush. I only managed a few photographs as it peered out and, after returning with my 500 mm lens, could not refind it. I continued working around the large evergreen Ficus type trees when suddenly out hopped a Yellow-throated Vireo Vireo flavifrons right in front of me! There was no missing this colorful vireo which traveled below the canopy through a few trees before being lost northwards. I’ve been searching for this vireo species for a long time here in San Diego and these days nothing beats a self-found new county bird!

While photographing the vireo my attention was drawn to a loud “bip” or “kip” call in the same tree as the Yellow-throated Vireo. It basically sounded like a louder and faster repeated version of a Hammond’s Flycatcher. I was shocked to see the call coming from a “Traill’s” type flycatcher flitting around madly under the canopy of the Ficus tree! Other birders came over and listened to the flycatcher above our heads. The analysis of recordings of the calls will be the subject of a follow up blog post.

I did make a late afternoon return visit but could only add an Indigo Bunting Passerina cyanea to the eastern vagrant mix! Not a bad haul for one day in spring migration at the cemetery!