August is off to a good start with a record early date for Northern Parula in Hampshire County for me today as well as a few late lingering warblers the last couple days. One of the first warblers to leave the area for fall migration is Louisiana Waterthrush and I set out on Monday after work to try to track one down. I made a few stops before finally finding one along a small brook in the Mount Holyoke Range SP. I caught up with a few other warbler species that day too but very few were singing (typical as we enter the late summer period). Today I made the hike up to the top of Mount Holyoke at Skinner SP and the reward for the hike included the very early Northern Parula, two singing male Cerulean Warblers and a Worm eating Warbler. My previous early date for a parula in the county was Aug 12, 2011 and a typical year has them showing up at the very end of the month into the beginning of September. I didn't have my good camera with me but I was lucky enough to get a few shots with the iPhone through the binoculars. Overall for the first three days of August I have found 14 species of warbler and I have not even hit areas that are sure to feature new species.
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