A Nemesis Defeated

Ticking birds off a list is not the reason I go birding (or so I tell myself). On the other hand, I have to admit I get a sense of satisfaction from the tick. When the tick is overdue, other emotions come into play. I suppose it is a subtle variety of anxiety or shame, and some must feel it stronger than others because it motivates some birders to go to extremes.

So it is more with a feeling of relief than of victory that I report my first Ontario Worm-eating Warbler at Point Pelee on May 14. I don't know who the original finder of the bird was, but it hung around on the Woodland Trail at Point Pelee where it was intermittently seen during most of last week.

My last Worm-eating Warbler was May 16, 2007 at Cape May, NJ.

Last week I also put to rest this Ontario nemesis:

Yellow-headed Blackbird

I have searched for this bird on numerous occasions in the known spots in southern Ontario, and chased a couple of them in unusual spots but have always come up empty until now. Thanks to Andrew Don who provided some key information that enabled me to finally track this one down for Ontario.