The Hermit Warbler (Setophaga occidentalis) is a small songbird that nests at high elevations in tall, cool, wet coniferous forests. The species’ breeding range is restricted to the rich mountain forests of the Sierra Nevada, Coastal, and Cascade mountain ranges of California, Oregon, and Washington. This warbler avoids areas of deciduous trees, riparian vegetation, or open areas. The birds migrate to Mexico and Central America as far south as Nicaragua, where they winter in mountains above 6,500 feet elevation. Because Hermit Warblers are shy and live near the tops of some of the tallest trees on our planet they are much more easily heard than seen!
The species has been noted by ornithologists and birders extremely rarely in Colorado (perhaps only a dozen times over the past century), and never at lower elevations east of the higher coniferous forests of the Rocky Mountains. On October 8 and 9, 2012 a male Hermit Warbler was present at Last Chance, Colorado, foraging in sunflowers and weeds near the parking area at the NE corner of the intersection of Colorado Highway 71 and US Highway 36. This is the first fall record of the species anywhere in the state. The open high plains and agricultural habitats in the area are very inappropriate for the species! Birders from around the region “flocked” to the area to glimpse this special avian rarity. It was not seen after the 9th, and it is hoped that this individual found its way back on course to the montane forests of Mexico or Central America!
MALE HERMIT WARBLER
The cache is a medicine vial wrapped in camo tape, placed just north of the parking area where birders “flocked” to see the warbler. Given the relative remoteness of Last Chance, it’s doubtful that this hide will have a corresponding flock of cache-seekers rushing to ground zero! If you are one of these, have fun, and ponder how a small warbler got so far off-route that it occupied completely inappropriate habitat for at least 2 days.