Kennesaw Mountain, GA - October 6th - 7th, 2004

Kennesaw Mountain was the site of a fanous Civil War battle.

Because I missed so many eastern warblers from High Island to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to the interior of Maine, I had the bright idea to try one last time at Kennesaw Mountain, Georgia. This is the site of one of the pivotal battles of Sherman's famous march to Atlanta in the Civil War. It is also an excellant migrant trap and is particularly noted for Cerrulean Warblers in the fall. Kennesaw Mountain has a devoted group of birders who cover it almost daily and post their sightings in detail on their web site with consistent regularity. It was such reports that made me think I could find Chestnut-sided Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, and maybe Canada and Golden-winged Warblers as well. I e-mailed Bill Lotz and was told that I would be welcome to join the daily walk, but that he was heading to the coast for a birding festival.

As usual, I scheduled a red-eye flight to maximize the birding and minimize the hotel expense, and I landed in Atlanta at 5:45 AM. After a few wrong turns, I made it to the Kennesaw National Battleground Visitor's center just before 7 AM and tried to shut my eyes for few minutes as it began to get light. When I stepped out of my car, I noticed a birder standing under a tree listening to the growing chorus of birds. His name was Sterling and he indicated that a gentleman named Giff Beaton, author of the Guide to Georgia Birds, would be joining us. Since most of the authors of state bird guides are in their later years, I was surprised when a young man in shorts and a t-shirt sauntered up and was introduced as Giff. Giff was a Delta pilot whose schedule had allowed him to do a few low key big years in the past, so he was interested in what i had and hadn't seen. I was embarrassed at my many easy misses, but Giff wasn't judgemental. He said that we were almost certain to see Chestnut-sided Warbler, but that all my other targets were unlikely. That was a little bit of a blow, but I was willing to see if we got lucky,

It wasn't long before Giff spotted a Chestnut-sided Warbler, but it dropped down before I could get to it and a small flock of other warblers, including a Blackburnian and several Black-throated Greens, distracted us from relocating it. A little further up the hill, we met Bob, who was doing a state big year and had already broken 300 (he already held the record of 325 and was unlikely to match that this year). Bob quickly spotted another Chestnut-sided Warbler which I glimpsed briefly before it flew. "Did you get it?" Giff asked. "Not really," I confessed, with a little frustration. These guys were finding birds and I wasn't getting on them quickly enough. Why did it seem to be just my target bird that I was missing?

Unfortunately, Giff had to leave to catch a flight (it is hard to be late when you are the pilot), and Sterling and Bob needed to go as well. None of them planned on coming back the next day, so I would be on my own. I stuck around for a few hours but the warbler activity stalled, so I went to a trail in a different part of the park (near the Pigeon Hill Battery) with the idea that I might catch a Brown-headed Nuthatch. I found Magnolia Warblers, a Hooded Warbler and an Overnbird, but no Nuthatch or Chesnut-sided Warbler.

I returned to the Mountain at about 5 PM and patrolled the stretch of road that Giff said was the best for warbler activity. After about twenty minutes of anxious pacing. my eye caught some movement in a small tree just along the road. The first thing I noticed was its light underparts, then its greenish back and wing bars. Finally, it poked its head out to reveal the diagnostic eye-ring and greenish cap. It was a Chestnut-sided Warbler! It poked around for about a minute before flying away down the hill. I stayed until the sun set hoping for another look and perhaps even some pictures, but it didn't return.

I was greatly relieved to have seen the bird because it was one of those birds whose magnificence had prompted me to do a big year in the first place. Granted, I still wanted to see an adult male in breeding plumage, but this was still a handsome bird. Also, this kept my streak alive of seeing at least one new bird on every trip that required air travel. I had never flown home from a trip with a goose egg. I was excited to return in the morning and see what the next day would bring.

Unfortunately, my lack of sleep caught up with me and although I set two alarm clocks for 6 AM, it was 9:30 when I awoke the next day! All that travel and expense and I missed the most important time of the day. I did catch up with another birder later in the day who said the morning had been very slow, but that didn't make me feel much better. My best birding on day two was back on the trail near Pigeon Hill, where I saw several Magnolia Warblers, another Ovenbird, and numerous thrushes. My last bird was a very friendly Palm Warbler that perched in the open just a few feet away from the trail.

This Palm Warbler has dinner in its mouth.

In hindsight, the decision to go to Kennesaw Mountain was not a wise one. I would wind up getting much better looks at a Chestnut-sided Warbler back in California less than a week later. However, it is always fun to visit a different birding spot and meeting the birders there.