Hooded Warbler to end April

Hooded Warbler, Hadley, MA, Apr 30, 2021

Hooded Warbler, Hadley, MA, Apr 30, 2021

Hooded Warbler, Hadley, MA, Apr 30, 2021

Hooded Warbler, Hadley, MA, Apr 30, 2021

With the forecast of strong winds for today I didn't have a lot of hope of finding anything too unusual but given the time of year and marginal migration conditions last night it was certainly still worth getting out.  At dawn the wind was light and I took advantage of the conditions to take a walk along the rail trail in Amherst (where I did find a rarity but it was not a warbler).  I did have nine species of warbler along the rail trail with most represented by just a single individual.  I made a few more stops in Hadley and Amherst as the wind steadily picked up.  By late in the morning I was back home and noticed a message from Mary saying she had a Hooded Warbler in Hadley so I headed back out the door to head over.  The wind was very strong as I parked the car but as I walked into the woods along the river it slackened a little but was still strong at times.  I met up with Mary and Greg and after a little waiting the warbler sang a few times.  This behavior of singing a few times followed by long periods of silence continued during the entire time I was there.  I got a few fleeting glimpses of the bird as it stayed fairly low to the ground in very dense cover.  Eventually I just stayed put in one spot and waited for the bird to move back into view.  Eventually it showed itself a little better and I was able to get a few photos.  The habitat looks perfect for it to breed and hopefully it can attract a mate.  This species is at the very limit of its northern range so there is at least a chance it will find a female.  This is the earliest I have ever had the species in Hampshire County and is in fact the earliest record for the species in all of western Massachusetts (at least as far as eBird data is concerned).  Oddly it is within 50 feet of where I found my first one in the county back in 2009.  A very good start to warbler season here for sure.

A decent influx overnight with 14 species of warbler

Yellow Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Apr 28, 2021

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Apr 28, 2021

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Apr 28, 2021

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Apr 28, 2021

Migration conditions overnight produced the first big influx of warblers for the season.  Once I got out of work I headed over to Arcadia and immediately started hearing warblers with my first Yellow Warblers for the season being the first ones heard.  I stopped when I heard some more chip notes and came across large numbers of Yellow rumped Warblers with other species sprinkled in including my first Ovenbirds, Nashville Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Parulas and Black throated Blue Warblers in the county for the year.  The number of Yellow rumped Warblers was impressive with waves moving past with dozens in view at once.  I counted at least 200 hundred individuals but there were likely many, many more.  Most of the warblers stayed up fairly high actively feeding and I spent lots of timing looking through the hordes for something unusual so didn't get many photos.  I had eleven species of warbler just in a small area at Arcadia and added three more for the day with multiple Louisiana Waterthrushes and Pine Warblers at a few locations and a Prairie Warbler at home.  It was nice to finally have some good migrations conditions to bring in some new species.

Yellow rumped Warblers at the suet feeders on some cold, windy days

Yellow rumped Warblers 'myrtle', Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 22, 2021

Yellow rumped Warblers 'myrtle', Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 22, 2021

With the cold and windy conditions yesterday (highs reached the low 40's with wind chills in the 20's) I noticed a couple Yellow rumped Warblers coming into the one suet feeder I have kept out during the daylight hours.  The numbers continued to build as I watched and eventually I was able to count at least eight in view at once (there were likely more around too).  Today was only slightly warmer but still windy and the warblers were back again.  This is easily the most warblers I have had come into the feeders ever.  The cold conditions certainly made finding insects a bit difficult and the warblers took advantage of an easy food source until it warms a bit.

A couple new warbler species today

 

Louisiana Waterthrush, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 21, 2021

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 21, 2021

Black and White Warbler, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 21, 2021

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 20, 2021

Today I finally added a couple new species of warbler for the spring here with my first Northern Waterthtrush and Black and White Warbler.  Besides these new arrivals there are slowly increasing numbers of Palm Warblers and Yellow rumped Warblers but not huge numbers so far.  Overall the migration season is a little slow but I suspect that will change by the middle of next week but until then weather conditions will overall not be conducive to big movements of migrants.  In fact after a couple days of south winds a cold front is coming in today and tonight will come close to breaking a record low in the mid 20's with strong northwest winds and tomorrow will not make it out of the 40's.  

Pine Warbler (with Ruby crowned Kinglet), Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 20, 2021

I captured my first warbler of the spring on the camera trained on the water feature with a male Pine Warbler showing up.  I have had Pine Warblers around the yard for weeks but this is the first capture.  Palm Warblers and Yellow rumped Warblers have also shown up in the last few days but so far have not stopped at the water feature.  After setting up the new water feature later in the fall last year I got six species and with the Pine Warbler added yesterday I'm up to seven warbler species so far.  I have high hopes of adding quite a few over the course of the spring migration season.

Volcanic eruption on Saint Vincent and its impact on the endemic Whistling Warbler

A short post about an ongoing volcanic eruption on the small Caribbean Island of Saint Vincent.  The La Soufriere volcano started erupting on April 9th and has continued to have explosive eruptions daily since with ash covering most of the island and spreading to nearby islands including Barbados and Saint Lucia (as well as others).  The volcano is located on the northern part of the island and is the highest point on the island.  Before this eruption the last time it erupted was 1979 (it has had five recorded explosive eruptions since 1718).  The island is home to two endemic bird species with the unique Whistling Warbler being the one I'm most interested in (with the other endemic being the St. Vincent Parrot).  The Whistling Warbler is one of only five species of wood warbler outside of South America I have not yet seen.  The warbler inhabits humid foothills and higher elevation forests and is considered endangered within its very limited range due to habitat loss, volcanic activity and hurricanes.  The latest data I could find put the total population at between 3000-5000 individuals and the latest eruption will certainly hit that number hard as ash covers the entire island.    

I had plans to make it down to there this past winter but the pandemic put a stop to those plans and I then had thought about it for this coming winter assuming the stringent travel restrictions there and in Dominica eased up a bit.  Now it appears my chances of getting to St. Vincent anytime in the near future is quite low.  Hopefully the volcano will become less active soon and the birds will pull through.

Early April warblers

Louisiana Waterthrush, Hadley Reservoir, Hadley, MA, Apr 7, 2021

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 7, 2021

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 2, 2021

The first week of April has produced four species of warblers so far with a few early arriving Louisiana Waterthrushes today plus loads of Pine Warblers and the first arrivals of Palm Warblers and Yellow rumped Warblers since the beginning of the month.  The Pine Warblers have arrived in large numbers over the last couple days as migration conditions have slowly improved.  Overall the weather has been quite nice for early April with lots of sun, above normal temperatures (highs in the 60's for the last few days).  The winds have finally started changing from northerly to a more southerly flow.   There should be a noticeable increase in both Palm Warblers and Yellow rumped Warblers over the next several days (and always the chance of an overshoot rarity).

Warblers on a quick Florida trip

Common Yellowthroat, Pelican Island NWR, Vero Beach, FL, Mar 28, 2021

Prairie Warbler, Maritime Hammock Sanctuary, Melbourne Beach, FL, Mar 27, 2021

Ovenbird, Green Cay Wetlands, Boynton Beach, FL, Mar 26, 2021

Palm Warbler, Green Cay Wetlands, Boynton Beach, FL, Mar 26, 2021

Black and White Warbler, Green Cay Wetlands, Boynton Beach, FL, Mar 26, 2021

Black throated Blue Warbler, Green Cay Wetlands, Boynton Beach, FL, Mar 26, 2021

 Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Maritime Hammock Sanctuary, Melbourne Beach, FL, Mar 29, 2021

We managed to get in a short getaway to Florida from March 25th-31st with gorgeous weather but sadly not tons of warblers.  Nonetheless I didn't expect to get away at all this winter season due to the ongoing Covid 19 pandemic but after we both got vaccinated and some travel restrictions were relaxed (at least for travel in the US) we got a trip in.   It was a short trip that had us flying into West Palm Beach were we spent one night and then up to Melbourne Beach for four nights and then Orlando for a night.  Overall the warblers were quite sparse.  It appears that many of the wintering species (especially Yellow rumped Warblers and Palm Warblers) already headed north and incoming migrants had not really arrived yet.  The most numerous species among the 10 species of warbler seen in total turned out to be Northern Parula.