April warblers

Orange crowned Warbler, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Apr 29, 2019

Black and White Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 24, 2019

 American Redstart, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 25, 2019

 Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 24, 2019

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 24, 2019

Black throated Green Warbler, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 30, 2019

Now that the month has come to an end I will take a quick look at totals for the month and how they compare to other years.  Overall the month was very wet with nearly record rainfall for the month but thankfully little snow.  The last week has been cooler than normal but earlier in the month it was above normal for temperatures which came in via some strong southerly winds.

I had a total of 13 species of warbler for the month with the most notable be an Orange crowned Warbler I found yesterday and record early dates for Ovenbird, American Redstart and Black throated Green Warbler.  Not my best April ever but better than several other years and above my April average of 10.5 species over the last ten plus years.   All my April totals from the year 2008 until last year can be found at the following post from last April.

Orange crowned Warbler among ten warbler species today

Orange crowned Warbler, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Apr 29, 2019

Orange crowned Warbler, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Apr 29, 2019

Orange crowned Warbler, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Apr 29, 2019

Today provided a rare respite from the recent rainy, cool weather and I took advantage of it by hitting a number of spots this morning. Although it was sunny to start it was also cold with a low of 30 degrees when I arrived at my first stop for the day at UMASS. It was rather quiet and I was on my way back to my car when I heard an odd chip note that sounded interesting. I tracked down the call and found an Orange crowned Warbler! Orange crowned Warblers can be tough to track down in western Massachusetts and are more likely to be found in the late fall than in the spring (I typically find more Connecticut Warblers than Orange crowned Warblers every year!). In fact I have only had Orange crowned Warbler in the spring on four other occasions: May 5, 2012, May 14, 2016, May 4, 2017 and May 16, 2018.  Two of the four other spring records were also at UMASS with the other two records being at Quabbin Gate 5 and Skinner SP.  The sighting today is my first April record ever in the county.  Besides the Orange crowned Warbler I had just two other warbler species there with a single each of Northern Waterthrush and Black and White Warbler.

Black and White Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 29, 2019

American Redstart, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 29, 2019

After getting a number of photos and some recordings of the chip notes (the bird never sang) I decided to head over to the nearby rail trail in Amherst. The rail trail turned up my first Northern Parula for the year in Hampshire County plus some Yellow rumped Warblers and another Black and White Warblers. As I was having some fairly good luck with diversity so far I decided to head back east and spend some time at Quabbin Park in search of more species. I found seven species of warblers there overall with the new ones for the day being Louisiana Waterthrush, American Redstart, Palm Warbler and Black throated Green Warbler. I hoped to find a few more new ones with a couple additional stops but no luck getting past the ten species I had already caught up with. I was certainly happy to get a double digit count in late April (especially with the migration conditions being poor the last few days).

Early American Redstart

American Redstart, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 25, 2019

Black and White Warbler, rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 25, 2019

I had a few off before work for my birthday yesterday and I spent the morning exploring a number of areas including the rail trail in Amherst, Quabbin Park, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River and a few other spots.  I had my best morning for warblers so far this season with seven species including an early American Redstart at Quabbin Park.  This is my earliest ever sighting for the species in Hampshire County with my previous record being April 29, 2017. 

Warblers for the third week of April

Black and White Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 21, 2019

Palm Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 21, 2019

Palm Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 21, 2019

Palm Warbler, rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 14, 2019

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 14, 2019

Pine Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 13, 2019

The southerly winds during most of the last week has moved in a number of warblers including some that are a bit on the early side.  I spent a few hours this morning at Quabbin Park and added two new warblers species for my Hampshire County list this year with half a dozen Black and White Warblers and two early Black throated Green Warblers.  In addition I had two Louisiana Waterthrushes, a few Palm Warblers and large numbers of Pine Warbler and Yellow rumped Warblers.  Today's Black throated Green Warblers beats my old early date for the species set in 2007 and 2011 when I had it on 4/24.  It will be interesting to see if this early arrival for species continues into the end of the month and if I get any other new early record dates (link to my previous early and late dates in Hampshire County).  I have also seen some reports in the last couple days of Northern Waterthrush, Nashville Warbler and Northern Parula.

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 19, 2019

Another warbler species showed up at the water feature on Friday with the arrival of a few Yellow rumped Warblers.  I had captured a Pine Warbler in the water at the beginning of the month.  I have had a total of 13 species of warbler show up at the water feature since I put it in, with last year bringing in eleven species with four of those never captured before.  Time will tell how many show up this year. 

A look at the upcoming warbler migration in Hampshire County and at home

Pine Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 10, 2019

Pine Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 6, 2019

Pine Warblers, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 4, 2019

As the migration season of spring warblers starts ramping up over the next few weeks I will take a look my totals over the years in Hampshire County and at home.  I'm going to concentrate on warblers in the county once again this season in the hopes of finding some unusual stuff while enjoying the more common species.  Overall I have had a total of 35 species in Hampshire County with the only species left to add being very rare species.  Over the years at home I have found a total of 28 species of warbler (including some rarities) but have still not had a Blue winged Warbler...hopefully I can finally add that species this year!  I have a number of cameras up around the yard that will hopefully catch some warbler visitors once again this year.  Until the rest of the warblers arrive I have been entertained by Pine Warblers enjoying the suet feeder and the water feature.

More early Palm Warblers and Pine Warblers including multiples coming to suet feeder at home

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 2, 2019

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 2, 2019

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 2, 2019

Pine Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 2, 2019

After I got out of work today I had to head straight home due to some commitments but was rewarded with a singing Pine Warbler almost as soon as I got home and I eventually got some distant photos.  By midday I was able to make it out to hit a few spots where I successfully found a couple more somewhat early Palm Warblers with singles at Lake Wallace and along the rail trail in Amherst despite a near continuous wind. 

Pine Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, Mar 31, 2019

Pine Warbler, Downy Woodpecker and Northern Cardinal, Home, Belchertown, MA, Mar 31, 2019

Pine Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, Mar 31, 2019

Pine Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 1, 2019

Pine Warblers, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 1, 2019

Pine Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 2, 2019

Pine Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 2, 2019

Once I was back home later in the afternoon I decided to check the motion camera I had trained on one of my remaining suet feeders.  As I was walking down the hill to the feeders I noticed one and then two Pine Warblers coming to the suet.  I had specifically set the camera up on the suet feeder in the hopes of catching an early arriving warbler and I finally managed to capture one.  The check of the cameras turned up lots of photos of up to two Pine Warblers enjoying the feeders starting at the end of March.