Everywhere I've lived, even in MN even in its nesting territory, this has been a great bird to find. Usually difficult--a "skulker" as it's been described--unless you hear its punchy often loud song. That's the main way people have been finding it in KY, where I recently moved from. I was never so lucky as to hear it in KY, but I did several times in Minnesota--and then it was still hard to see. It MOVES. 

Maybe it sings more in spring, and maybe sings more the closer it gets to nesting territory. Another funny thing--the three times I found it in MN in migration mode, it was near a body of water, low in brush--and a Canada warbler was nearby! Very strange--and probably coincidental.

I've also seen it in shrubby/brushy areas in drier places--or shrubby places on woods margins. It's hard to pin down.

The last two times I saw one--at Crane Creek last May near Toledo--it was down low near water. It had the habit of popping up and walking along a horzontal branch, as tho parading in a fashion show. The 2nd there was in brush by water and then flew up into the nearby woods--flew up high and acted more like other warblers in the area.

The most AMAZING story with Conns happened to me about 15 years ago, in Lake Forest, IL. I was working at a place on the grounds of a 50 acre field area with patchy woods and a creek running through it. I was walking in a little open area in the woods and came upon a FLOCK of a HALF DOZEN CONNECTICUTS--they were very close to me, walking around under mayapple plants, walking like discreet chubby English gentlemen. Even the next morning, I found one there. 

These are strange and amazing birds that can be almost anywhere, tho low/shrubby/water seems best. On its nesting territory (like at Sax Zim Bog in MN), when it's disturbed, it will fly up from the ground, and SLOWLY fly its way into a tree--a spruce/evergreen usually--and take a look at the irritant, then quickly fly back. As someone said, there are probably a lot more of them than we know, especially here where maybe they don't sing much. I don't know that I've ever had much to say about a species before on a listserv (except about the Hooded and its incredible song variety)--but I thought I'd risk boring people about a bird that so many of us think of as a kind of Holy Grail of migrating warblers (tho how I'd love to see a Golden Winged now).

Tim Houghton
(Glen Arm)