RARE KENTUCKY WARBLER SEEN BY MANY BIRDERS IN PARK THIS MORNING

Thanks to Brian Bailey for this photograph

Sam Smith Park and a happy group of birders and photographers welcomed a rare visitor this morning.
  
After a perilous journey from the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico and a non-stop flight across the Gulf of Mexico, a Kentucky Warbler found itself in Canada, way outside of its normal migration and summer ranges. (Coincidentally, one was also seen at Point Pelee this morning.)

This bird is a threatened species, primarily due to habitat loss - understory vegetation in deciduous forests.  

The breeding bird survey shows a 35% population loss from 1966 to 2001 even across its normal U.S. range.

By the way, a group of Kentucky Warblers is collectively known as a "derby" of warblers.

Its fortunate presence in our park this morning, as it foraged and fed along the banks of North Creek just east of the Powerhouse, illustrates the importance of safeguarding these precious spots.

Friends of Sam Smith Park lobbied for this area, as well as the Dogwood Thickets on the east side of the oval, to be included as an "environmentally sensitive area" during the recent public consultation process.