After not being able to travel much at all for the last year due to the ongoing pandemic I finally managed to get some trips to the tropics to find new warbler species. My trip in mid November to southern Ecuador produced a number of new warbler species for me (depending on which classification system you look at). Using the Clements classification (which eBird uses) I gained four species with Gray and Gold Warbler, Masked Yellowthroat, Citrine Warbler and Three banded Warbler. Other authorities break up Masked Yellowthroat into different species and I saw two of these potential species with Black lored Yellowthroat and Maranon Yellowthroat. In addition Olive crowned Yellowthroat is split into multiple species by other classification systems and I saw the southern subspecies on this trip (after seeing two other subspecies in Costa Rica on earlier trips). My trip to Mexico in December produced one new species with Belding's Yellowthroat. With the sighting of the Belding's Yellowthroat I'm now down to just four species of warblers that occur north of South America that I have not seen. Two of those occur in the Caribbean with those being Whistling Warbler (occurring only on Saint Vincent), Plumbeous Warbler (which occurs on Dominica and Guadeloupe) and two in the far eastern end of Panama and barely into Columbia with those two species being Pirre Warbler and Tacarcuna Warbler. Given the ongoing pandemic I'm not sure when I will be able to even try for these species (or any others). The only trip planned so far for the new year is yet another trip down to Costa Rica but still not sure that trip will happen.
I started off the new year with a full day of birding on new years day with one of the big targets being a warbler and I was happy to find a Yellow rumped Warbler continuing in the area of the Hadley DPW. I continued to check other areas throughout the month that have produced Yellow rumped Warblers the last few years but found no others beyond a one day wonder at Lower Mill Pond in Easthampton.
With the ongoing pandemic and all the restrictions on travel I had to first reschedule and then finally cancel our usual trip down to Costa Rica. Without the ability to travel to the tropics in the winter I had to make do with what the state had to offer with warblers. I made a trip up to Athol to check out a Tennessee Warbler coming to feeders at a private residence since late November. Tennessee Warbler is an extremely unusual warbler to have lingering in winter most anywhere in the US...typically they would be in Central America (just like me!). Late in the month I made another foray to the eastern end of the state with the aim of seeing a number of unusual warblers. My first target was a Townsend's Warbler which I got after a bit of waiting (becoming a new warbler species in the state for me...#37). I then added Yellow throated Warbler (which I first saw back in December) and the Tennessee Warbler again (I missed on a Pine Warbler). Overall the month was warmer than normal with little snow until the end of the month.
March was fairly quiet for warblers around here in the frozen north with just the single continued Yellow rumped Warbler in Hadley and a Pine Warbler at the very end of the month after getting back from a long overdue trip away from the frozen wasteland that is Massachusetts in winter.
We made a brief trip down to Florida at the end of the month and enjoyed some tropical like warmth during our stay. Overall the warblers down there were few in number and diversity with just ten species overall.
The first week of April had the arrival of early migrants including a somewhat early Louisiana Waterthrush. By the third week of the month a couple more warbler species had arrived but not too many. In fact the month was very slow for warblers with less than ideal migration conditions with colder than normal temps and mainly north winds. The cold conditions did bring in a number of Yellow rumped Warblers into a suet feeder at home.
The very end of April brought in a decent influx of warblers including a Hooded Warbler on the 30th which brought the total warbler species for April up to an impressive 18. The total of 18 is the highest I have ever had for the month in Hampshire County with the previous four years producing 9,13,8 and 17...apparently every other year is great for early season migrant warblers.
May started off with bang with nearly twenty species in the first couple days of the month including a Cerulean Warbler at Quabbin Park (I had it again a few days later but could not determine if it stayed to breed). By the end of the first week of the month I had added a few more species including an Orange crowned Warbler as well as a returning Lawrence's Warbler.
As the middle of month approached I took a rare trip out of the county in May to go see a Golden winged Warbler in Franklin County. Besides the Golden winged Warbler I saw both typical hybrids (Lawrence's and Brewster's Warbler) as well as a Blue winged Warbler all on the same day...something I have never done before.
On the 17th of the month I did a warbler big day in Hampshire County and found a total of 28 species of warbler (plus a hybrid). I think this is my highest warbler species total for a single day I have yet had in Hampshire County.
The rest of the month produced yet another Blue winged x Golden winged warbler hybrid as well as another Brewster's Warbler and multiple Mourning Warblers. I ended the month with 31 species of warblers (with 30 of those in Hampshire County).
With the arrival of June the migrants have moved through and the warblers remaining get down to breeding for the season. Although the Neighborhood Nestwatch program has come to an end due to funding issues I still got some birds banded in the yard this year as part of a PhD students study and during the morning of banded we caught a Pine Warbler. The early part of the month had multiple hybrids continuing as well as an impressive number of Worm eating Warblers all along the Mount Holyoke Range. I also made a return trip up to Montague in the middle of month and once again located the continued Golden winged Warbler (it was confirmed paired with a Blue winged Warbler and feeding nestlings later in the month).
After many attempts I finally caught up with a Cerulean Warbler along the Mount Holyoke Range that was found by another birder and heard singing an unusual Black throated Blue Warbler like song. It took multiple trips but I finally got looks at it. I was in for an even bigger surprise when I watched it sing not only Black throated Blue warbler like songs but then switched to a Black and White Warbler song! A really crazy bird and worth the effort to finally find it.
July is typically one of the slower months for warblers with little in the way of migration with all the warblers busy taking care of young. Nonetheless I was still out looking for warblers with the free time I did have and when the very rainy weather would allow.
We made a short trip out to the Finger Lakes area of New York in the middle of the month and although not a birding trip I still got out a bit trying to track down some warblers I had not yet seen in New York. I added seven new warbler species to my state list there as well as one new warbler for the year (Prothonotary Warbler).
At the very end of the month Sebastian stopped by the yard for the second time this year to band and among the species captured was a Common Yellowthroat.
I got out a few times in the early part of August to catch up with a few species before they left for the season and to try to catch up with a number of other species as they disperse following the breeding season. I was pleasantly surprised to find a record early Northern Parula on the third among a small mixed flock at Skinner SP. Warblers continued to show throughout the month and by end of the month I had tallied 23 species which is a bit ahead of a typical August.
The big month of fall warbler migration produced a total of 27 species of warbler. The first week of the month produced a nice variety of birds but nothing unexpected. The second week produced another nice diversity of species but no luck in turning up a Connecticut Warbler despite a lot of effort. I finally caught up with not one but two Connecticut Warblers on the 16th with one eventually showing well enough to get some decent photos despite the low light conditions. I also unusually plumaged warblers around mid month including a Northern Parula with a very light colored head. By the end of the month the species diversity was rapidly dropping but the numbers were still fairly good but overall many species appeared to migrant through without stopping thanks to good migration conditions.
I gained a new species of warbler without having to make a trip to an exotic location when the Rufous capped Warbler was split into two species with the white bellied northern birds retaining the name Rufous capped Warbler and the more southerly yellow bellied birds now known as Chestnut capped Warbler (eBird finally made these changes in their database in September)
The first week of October produced a total of 16 species with the diversity dropping off after the first week but still lots of stuff around. The first week of the month also produced some bad news when we found out our boy Wilson has cancer...a tough diagnosis to hear.
The middle of the month produced a very late Connecticut Warbler which broke my previous late date by over a week. The somewhat cooperative individual (at least for this species) stayed around through at least the 15th of the month.
The remainder of October continued to produce warblers but as expected the diversity dwindled down to just a few species by the third week of the month and dropped even further by the end of the month. Overall the month produced a total of 17 species.
The beginning of the month produced just a couple species of warbler with Palm Warbler and Yellow rumped Warblers. I tried to find something else unusual and failed...quite a difference from last year when I had five species in the first week of the month.
I finally made it back to the tropics with a trip to southern Ecuador in the middle of the month with the main focus being warblers. I had a target group of warblers (and subspecies that may be split) and I got to see them all. It was great to be back in the tropics again after a long absence due to the pandemic.
Before making another trip south to begin December I spent some time in Hampshire County looking for late warblers and actually managed to see two Common Yellowthroats with at least one sticking through the end of November.
To start the month of December I made a trip down to the southern tip of Baja California Sur in Mexico in search of the range restricted Belding's Yellowthroat that only occurs in a select few spots in that area. I got to see several of the yellowthroats as well as a number of other warbler species wintering in the area.
I flew from Mexico back to Florida to meet Sherri to continue the vacation there. We were in the southern Florida area from the 5th-10th and during that time I got out birding at least a bit on each day and had a dozen species of warbler including a late Tennessee Warbler (a first for me in Florida).
After getting back from Florida I spent most of my time at home helping Sherri after an injury she sustained on vacation. I was able to get out a little and during that time I finally got some photos of a Yellow rumped Warbler in the county for the month...making it 56 straight months of having at least one warbler species in the county. As the year came to an end I was able to locate multiple Yellow rumped Warblers sticking around.
The camera on the new water feature captured a bunch of warblers over the course of the season but not as many as I had hoped. I will make a few changes with the set up next year to see if I can attract more.
If one is not totally bored at this point and needs even more warblers, below are links to previous year end summaries:
Below are a few tallies for the year with overall warblers seen, warblers per month overall and warblers per month in Hampshire County.
Warblers (running tally for year)
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
4 5 13 21 33 33 34 34 35 35 45 47
Warblers overall per month
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
4 2 10 18 31 22 20 23 27 17 16 16
Hampshire County warblers by month
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
1 1 2 18 30 20 19 23 27 17 3 1
