Without my ability to make my usual trips down to the tropics during the winter due to the pandemic I have been trying to fill the void by trying to find warblers in the area. The pickings are quite slim in the immediate area with just a couple Yellow rumped Warbler around and those have not been consistent at all this year. Outside the local area but still within the state have been a few rare warblers and for the last couple weeks I have toyed with the idea of trying for them all in a day. I initially was going to make the trip a bit over a week ago but some stuff came up which prevented it and then I planned on possibly trying this last weekend as it would allow me to make the trip east without the typical weekday traffic but the weather conditions with strong northwest winds and cold temperatures made the prospect of finding warblers in those conditions low. After seeing positive reports of a few of my targets over the weekend despite the cold weather I decided I would make the trip today. After a less than restful nights sleep I headed out well before dawn and made the long drive down to southeast Massachusetts going after my first (and most sought after) target bird for the day...a long staying Townsend's Warbler. The bird has been around for weeks in the same neighborhood coming to various different feeders at different houses. I arrived before dawn and the weather conditions initially didn't look too good with continued winds out of the northwest but at least it was warmer than the weekend with morning temps there around 20 (warmer than home where it was around 10 when I left before five). I walked through the area where the bird has been seen coming to various feeders in a built up neighborhood. Not my favorite type of birding but this time of year if you want to see a variety of warblers in Massachusetts you will end up stalking them at feeders. After reading multiple reports of people who had seen the warbler on previous visits as well as some messages from a few birders, I finally set myself up across the street from the yards with the most recent reports. I could view just a small portion of a backyard but there seemed to be a decent amount of bird activity so I just continually scanned the bushes and trees and eventually I had the bird pop into view. I got a number of distant photos as it moved through some small bushes before disappearing yet again. It was very satisfying to find the bird without spending the entire morning looking. The Townsend's Warbler became my 37th warbler species for the state...hopefully I will eventually find one in Hampshire County (which has just a single record ever with that individual being the only record of the species in all of western Massachusetts). As I walked back to my car I also added a couple Yellow rumped Warblers for the day.
My next stop was back to the west into southern Worcester County to a private home in Northbridge where a Pine Warbler has been coming into feeders for weeks. I added this stop at the last minute after contacting the homeowner (Mary) to get permission to come by to check it out and possibly add another warbler species for the day. I got a message from her that the bird showed up that morning so I had high hopes I would get to see it. I was running a bit ahead of schedule when I arrived there around nine and immediately started looking for it. I talked to Mary briefly and got info on the best spots to check (a feeder in the front yard featuring meal worms). Unfortunately after nearly an hour of waiting the bird was a no show. In fact no birds at all came into the feeders the entire time I was there. I decided to move on to Lancaster to check out the Yellow throated Warbler before it got too late in the morning.
I arrived to the private residence that I first visited back on Christmas Eve to see the Yellow throated Warbler. On my first visit there in December I was there at dawn and there was a decent amount of snow on the ground and it was cold. This time I arrived a bit before eleven to a snow free yard and much more comfortable temperatures. I was initially the only birder present but was quickly joined by a few other birders. I kept scanning the feeders in both the front and back yards from a vantage point that allowed one to see both sets of feeders. After about a fifteen minute wait the bird arrived at the front feeders and fed from some of the peanut butter coated pine cones before it disappeared again. I was able to get the few other birders on the bird and all got to see it. I was happy it showed up quickly and gave some great views.
My final stop for my morning warbler search was to Athol to see the Tennessee Warbler once again (I first made a trip to see this extremely rare in winter species in early January As mentioned in that post this bird should be in southern Mexico or Central America and this individual is one of the northern most records for this species in winter. This one proved to be the easiest to see and was very visible almost as soon as I arrived. The bird was coming in constantly to the window feeders the entire time I was there and was very bold and lorded over its well maintained feeders, which is probably what has kept this bird alive so long so far north from where it should be.
Overall for the morning I found a total of four species of warblers with one being a new one for me in the state. I'm sure I could have got more if I journeyed even further east on to the cape but I was not up for even more driving (Pine Warbler could have been added rather easily as well as other possibilities such as Orange crowned Warbler and Palm Warbler).
If anyone has any interest in trying for any of these birds just drop me a message and I can provide contact info for the various homeowners. A thank you to Aaron, Peter and Joe for info on the Townsend's Warbler and a special thanks to the homeowners that allowed me to visit (Mary, Jeff P, and Jeff and Sherry J.).
A summary of the day beyond the warblers can be found at the following link.
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