Sadly, I've been aware of the decline of the Cerulean warbler for a long,
long time.  There are several locations in Vermont's Champlain Valley that I
kept as my own little "secret" places that I could reliably see, or at least
hear, Ceruleans every year.  They haven't been seen in these particular
riparian habitats in over ten years; I believe that the main cause of the
decline in the more northern portions of their breeding range is due to
habitat loss in their "home" wintering grounds in the tropics.  There isn't
any mountaintop removal mining going on in New England or Quebec, so I'd
have to say that although that may be a significant factor in, say, the
Appalachians of West Virginia, the situation is more complicated than that.




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Frank Boyle
Rohrersville, MD

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