Today Ingrid and I saw a Prothonotary Warbler at Hinckley Park in South Portland . . . the third time in the last four years this chunky yellow bird has shown up near the ponds at this perennial birding hotspot. The name Prothonotary refers to the yellow robes worn by papal clerks (or prothonotaries).
Prothonotary Warblers are generally found in the swamps of the American south and rarely north of New Jersey. Why one repeatedly shows up at a dog walking park outside Maine’s largest city is a mystery.
Being a bit of a nerd, I love the fact that the Prothonotary Warbler helped make Richard Nixon president of the United States.

It all started in the late 1940s when Alger Hiss, a prominent government official was accused of spying for the Soviets. Hiss was a Harvard Law School graduate who clerked for the US Supreme Court Clerk, was a prominent official in the FDR administration and even helped write the United Nations Charter. Hiss was also an avid bird watcher.
In 1948, Whittaker Chambers (no relation), a former Communist Party member testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee about Hiss’s Communist pursuits. A junior congressman from California named Richard Nixon led the investigation against Hiss.
