Ten warbler species today despite subpar migration conditions lately

Ovenbird, Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, Apr 28, 2023

Black and White Warbler, Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, Apr 28, 2023

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, Apr 28, 2023

Today was the first day I managed to break into double digit for warbler species in a morning in Hampshire County this spring.  Our pattern of cooler than normal temps and occasional rain has really curtailed migration for the fourth week of April.  Several species that typically should be starting to show up (at least in small numbers) have been largely absent.  I had my first Ovenbird and Northern Parula this morning in Hadley.  I even made the climb up to the summit at Skinner SP in the hopes a very early Cerulean Warbler or Worm eating Warbler had arrived but no luck with either of those.  Once the pattern changes there should be a big push, however that does not look to happen any time soon with mainly rainy conditions over the coming weekend into early next week with primarily easterly winds which will keep things quite cool around here.  Even with subpar migration conditions some birds will still move in but the overall numbers will be low until the weather makes a change to southerly winds.  Time will tell when exactly that happens.

Record early date for Yellow Warbler and other new arrivals among eight species of warbler today

Yellow Warbler, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 21, 2023

Black and White Warbler, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 21, 2023

Black throated Green Warbler, Piper Farm Conservation Area, Belchertown, MA, Apr 21, 2023

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Piper Farm Conservation Area, Belchertown, MA, Apr 21, 2023

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Piper Farm Conservation Area, Belchertown, MA, Apr 21, 2023

Pine Warbler, Piper Farm Conservation Area, Belchertown, MA, Apr 21, 2023

Pine Warbler, Piper Farm Conservation Area, Belchertown, MA, Apr 21, 2023

I was out checking many spots this morning in the hopes of finding a Yellow throated Warbler in Hampshire County after two showed up yesterday in the area with one in Franklin County and another in Hampden County.  Although I missed on finding a Yellow throated Warbler I did have my best day so far for the spring as far as diversity is concerned with eight species of warbler including a new record early date for me for Yellow Warbler (previous earliest was April 23 in both 2022 and 2017) and a tie for my earliest date with Black throated Green Warbler (tied with 2019).  Besides the two early warblers I had my first of the year Black and White Warblers today.  Migration conditions were good last night and look to be good again tonight so I suspect more arrivals tomorrow and I will be out again looking.

YELLOW THROATED WARBLER in Sunderland...my first western mass sighting

Yellow throated Warbler, Mt Toby State Forest, Sunderland, MA, Apr 20, 2023

Yellow throated Warbler, Mt Toby State Forest, Sunderland, MA, Apr 20, 2023

Yellow throated Warbler, Mt Toby State Forest, Sunderland, MA, Apr 20, 2023

Yellow throated Warbler, Mt Toby State Forest, Sunderland, MA, Apr 20, 2023

Yellow throated Warbler, Mt Toby State Forest, Sunderland, MA, Apr 20, 2023

Yellow throated Warbler, Mt Toby State Forest, Sunderland, MA, Apr 20, 2023

After thinking it was prime time for a Yellow throated Warbler to make an appearance I noticed a report late in the day yesterday of a Yellow throated Warbler that was seen in Sunderland by Mason W. and he was able to get some photos providing some great documentation.  Yellow throated Warbler is one of a handful of southern US warblers that occasionally overshoots a bit in spring and ends up more north than typical but is one of the rarer ones to do so.  I have long had this species on my mind as one I would love to find in Hampshire County at some point but with only a handful of records for the species ever (only one eBird record ever for the county and that was back in October of 2010) the chances are low.  Looking at the venerable 'Birds of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts' (from 1937) it mentions just three valley records and all of those are not considered as slam dunks for being the correct ID with just one of those reports in Hampshire County.  Looking at all these sources there are less than a dozen records for the species anywhere in the four counties of western mass and the sightings are split about even between early spring and fall.  I typically would not venture out of Hampshire County for a bird but for a very rare warbler I decided to make an exception.  I made the drive up to Mt. Toby State Forest in Sunderland in the area of Cranberry Pond early in the morning and arrived a bit after six.  I know from previous experience that relocating rare warblers can be a bit frustrating and many times the bird is not relocated.  I hoped that the less than optimal migration conditions overnight would keep the bird in the area.  Once I arrived on site I started walking the road and within a short time I heard an odd song that I was almost certain was the target and after a bit of looking I had some distant looks in bad light.  The bird was very active and singing fairly often (a bit of an odd song compared to other Yellow throated Warblers I have heard but the species is quite variable in its song).  I managed to get some recordings and then spent some time trying to get better looks and some photos.   After a bit of waiting I had the bird work down lower as I was in an elevated spot and I got some decent photos (the photos showed the individual to likely be from the dominica race with its yellow supraloral although the yellow is less extensive then others of the race I have seen).  After its brief decent down lower it went back up to the upper parts of the trees and continued to sing even as I was leaving.  I have only had one other sighting of the species in the state and that was a bird coming to a feeder in Worcester that I saw on Christmas Eve 2020 during the height of the pandemic when I could not travel out of the country in the winter and was forced to stay in the local area.  In addition to the Yellow throated Warbler there were a couple Palm Warblers, a Pine Warbler and a Louisiana Waterthrush in the area with the only species seeming to associate at all with the Yellow throated Warbler being the Palm Warblers.  Full Flickr album with all the photos of the bird at the following link: Yellow throated Warbler.  Big thanks to Mason for finding and reporting the bird and providing additional details.

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle' and Palm Warbler 'yellow', Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 20, 2023

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 20, 2023

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 20, 2023

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 20, 2023

After my time with the Yellow throated Warbler I headed back into Hampshire County and made a few stops on my way back home including the rail trail in Amherst and Lake Wallace.  Both locations (as well as a few other brief stops) featured numbers of Yellow rumped Warblers and Palm Warblers plus a few Pine Warblers.  While I was out walking along the rail trail I saw that an experienced birder had another sighting of a Yellow throated Warbler down at Stebbins in southern Hampden County.  I certainly kept an eye and ear out for another one during my above mentioned stops as well as others during the morning but no luck.  Having two Yellow throated Warblers in the valley at the same time is without precedent and I'm certain there are others out there just waiting to be found and I will certainly be out there looking and encourage everyone else to do the same over the next few days at least.  As mentioned above the song of the Yellow throated Warbler can be a bit variable and perhaps sounds like a little like an odd Yellow throated Warbler (which is what the bird ID app Merlin identified the song of the Yellow throated Warbler as when I tried it out).  So if you are someone that uses Merlin then track down any odd sounding bird that Merlin identifies as a Yellow rumped Warbler.

More captures on the camera at the water feature

Palm Warblers 'yellow' and Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 15, 2023

Palm Warblers 'yellow' and Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 15, 2023

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 15, 2023

Pine Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 15, 2023

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 15, 2023

I checked the camera on the water feature when I got home today and was happy to find several captures of warblers with three species represented (Pine Warbler, Palm Warbler and Yellow rumped Warbler) including some interactions between various individuals. 

Four warblers this morning at the beginning of unseasonable warmth

Louisiana Waterthrush, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Apr 11, 2023

Louisiana Waterthrush, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Apr 11, 2023

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 11, 2023

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 11, 2023

Pine Warbler, Lake Warner, Hadley, MA, Apr 11, 2023

Today was the first real day of really warm weather for the season and what will likely end up being record setting heat by the end of the week (likely around 85).  Although it started out cool in the 30's it warmed up fairly quick once the sun came up and eventually reached the low 70's.  I went out before dawn and visited a number of locations with warblers figuring in highly once it started warming up.  I had four species for the morning with some really good looks at a few individuals (first time this season of having four species in a morning).  Palm Warblers and Pine Warblers are around in numbers in many locations and Yellow rumped Warblers and Louisiana Waterthurushes are just starting to arrive although I expect those numbers to increase a lot with our upcoming warm weather and decent winds for migration.  Will something unusual be pushed further north earlier than expected and/or will a southern species overshoot into the area (like a Yellow throated Warbler)?  Who knows but I will be out looking (and enjoying the warm weather).  To see some of my record early (and late) dates in the county check out the following link: early and late dates.

Palm Warbler is first warbler captured at the water feature this year

Palm Warbler' yellow', Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 7, 2023

I got the first warbler capture at the water feature for the year with a Palm Warbler that showed up a few days ago.  I'm surprised I didn't capture a Pine Warbler first as they have been around the yard singing all day for about a week now.

Early Louisiana Waterthrush (and others)

Louisiana Waterthrush, Hadley, MA, Apr 6, 2023

Louisiana Waterthrush, Hadley, MA, Apr 6, 2023

Louisiana Waterthrush, Hadley, MA, Apr 6, 2023

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 6, 2023

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 6, 2023

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 6, 2023

After the most complete night of sleep in almost a week as I continue to fight a cold after returning from the topics I felt well enough to take a few longer walks (although by the end of them I was completely wiped out).  After a few stops looking for waterfowl and shorebirds I made my way to Hadley to follow up on an early Louisiana Waterthrush that Cory found yesterday.  I arrived at the location and quickly had the bird singing occasionally and after waiting a bit I had the bird work right past me and sing in plain view as I captured a few photos.  Although not my earliest date for the species in the county in comes very close with my earliest ever date being April 5th last year. There were also multiple Pine Warblers singing in the same location (as well as in many other spots the last few days).  I also made a stop by Lake Wallace and had at least a dozen Palm Warblers along the shoreline and showing well.  

Multiple new warblers on a southern Caribbean cruise including Whistling Warbler, Plumbeous Warbler and Masked Yellowthroat

Whistling Warbler, Montreal Nature Trails, St. Vincent, Mar 22, 2023

Plumbeous Warbler, Road to Morne Diablotin NP, Dominica, Mar 24, 2023

Recently back from a week long cruise out of Barbados visiting six different islands (Tobago, Trinidad, Saint Vincent, Grenada, Dominica and Saint Lucia).  My focus, not surprisingly, was on a number of new warblers including Masked Yellowthroat on Trinidad (a new species for me after a split last year), Whistling Warbler on St. Vincent and Plumbeous Warbler on Dominica.  I will cover each island below in the order we visited.  We stopped in Florida on the way to and the way back from the cruise and the warblers seen during those stops can be found at the following link.  Full trip report (birds beyond warblers included) at the following link: southern Caribbean cruise.

     American Redstart, Main Ridge Forest Reserve, Tobago, Mar 20, 2023      

During our first stop of the cruise in Tobago warblers did not figure prominently with few possible species to be seen but nonetheless I still had a couple species in the rainforest with a Northern Waterthrush and an American Redstart.  The guide for the day was Jason Radix (all the guides I had were excellent and I will list contact info for each at the end of the post).

Paria Peninsula, Venezuela (left) and Trinidad (right), At sea off Trinidad, Mar 21, 2023

Field with Masked Yellowthroat, Aranguez, Trinidad, Mar 21, 2023

The second stop was to the large island of Trinidad with the target warbler being the Masked Yellowthroat. Following the most recent taxonomic update I no longer had the species on my warbler list as the birds I had seen that were formally considered Masked Yellowthroats got split off into three new species (Masked Yellowthroat, Black lored Yellowthroat and Southern Yellowthroat).  On our way into port we sailed past the Paria Peninsula of Venezuela which contains an endemic warbler (Paria Redstart) that I'm likely never to see given the political climate of Venezuela.  I was off the ship right after eight and then met up with my guide for the day, Faraaz Abdool. We immediately headed to the most promising location within striking distance of the port for Masked Yellowthroat. After a few wrong turns we eventually made it to the location just after nine and started looking. The day was already getting hot with a fairly constant breeze…not great conditions for finding the warbler. As we watched and waited we turned up lots of other birds but no yellowthroat. The only warblers we had initially were a couple Northern Waterthrushes along the wet ditches. After getting stung by a wasp my luck turned around a little when I had a Masked Yellowthroat pop up ever so briefly. It dropped down out of view almost as fast as it appeared and I had no chance to get a photo. We waited a bit more for it to show up again but no luck so after one and a half hours plus we moved on to another less reliable spot for the yellowthroat and had no luck.  Other warblers for the day, besides the previously mentioned Masked Yellowthroat and Northern Waterthrush, included Yellow Warbler and American Redstart.  We tried one more time in the initial location for the yellowthroat on the way back to the ship but had no luck.

Whistling Warbler, Montreal Nature Trails, St. Vincent, Mar 22, 2023

Whistling Warbler, Montreal Nature Trails, St. Vincent, Mar 22, 2023

Whistling Warbler, Montreal Nature Trails, St. Vincent, Mar 22, 2023

Whistling Warbler, Montreal Nature Trails, St. Vincent, Mar 22, 2023

Whistling Warbler habitat, St Vincent, Mar 22, 2023

The third stop on the cruise to the island of Saint Vincent held one of the major targets for the trip with the endemic Whistling Warbler, a unique looking warbler of the forest. It is found within the rain forest and typically feeds quite actively among tense tangles so getting looks and photos can be a challenge. My guide for the day was Lystra and we met up in the port a little after eight and then made the drive up into the mountains to try for the warbler. We arrived near the Montreal trails in the St. Vincent Parrot Preserve a little after 9AM and started walking up the trails into the rain forest. The trail reminded me of many other steep trails in the tropics I have been on. The first spot we checked for the warbler initially didn’t produce it and sorting through the hordes of Bananaquits (the subspecies there is all black) without finding it was a bit frustrating. Nonetheless we persevered and I got quick views of a male that then dropped out of sight, never to be seen again after just a few seconds of viewing.   At this point I decided to try a few other spots further up the trail to try to get better looks and hopefully some photos before we moved on to try for any other target species for the day. The trail going up the mountain was a bit steep and muddy in spots and we finally reached the second location (of three the guide knew) and we started looking again. We got another individual that showed much better and allowed for some great photo opportunities. I was ecstatic to get this bird as I knew it was the rarest of the three targets on the trip. At this point the day was a complete success in my book and anything else seen was a bonus.  The Whistling Warblers were the only species of warbler for the entire day in the field.  Loads more photos for the day at the following link.

Midday beach during kayaking, Grenada, Mar 23, 2023

The stop in Grenada involved kayaking along the coast so no warblers for that day although I did try my best to turn up a warbler in the mangroves without luck.

Plumbeous Warbler, Road to Morne Diablotin NP, Dominica, Mar 24, 2023

Plumbeous Warbler, Road to Morne Diablotin NP, Dominica, Mar 24, 2023

Plumbeous Warbler, Road to Morne Diablotin NP, Dominica, Mar 24, 2023

Plumbeous Warbler, Road to Morne Diablotin NP, Dominica, Mar 24, 2023

Plumbeous Warbler, Road to Morne Diablotin NP, Dominica, Mar 24, 2023

The final target warbler for the trip was Plumbeous Warbler on the island of Dominica. It is a rear endemic, occurring on only Dominica and Guadeloupe.  I met up with the guide as soon as I could get off the ship and we started driving north.  He said the Plumbeous Warbler should be easy to find and he knew a spot where a pair were likely nesting right along the road.  As we worked our way up the mountain road into Morne Diablotin NP we made a stop and almost immediately had a Plumbeous Warbler that sang a few times and showed well. A really striking warbler and yet another species I have been waiting to see for years with hurricanes, cruise schedule changes and then Covid getting in the way.  I got loads of photos as we had a brief bit of sun before some rain showers moved back in.  The rest of the day was spent looking for other target species, which took a lot more effort than the warbler did.  We ran across another pair of Plumbeous Warblers as we walked out of the trail after failing to see the Imperial Parrot (we did get the other targets thankfully).  A full album of photos for the day in Dominica at the following link.

Dawn with then pitons on the south end of the island, At sea off St. Lucia, Mar 24, 2023

St. Lucia Warbler, Millet Nature Reserve, St. Lucia, Mar 12, 2019

The final port visited on the trip was Saint Lucia. I had previously visited the island back in March 2019 during which I found the endemic St Lucia Warbler during a trip to the Millet Reserve. During our stop we headed north from the port of Castries to Pigeon Island which featured some nature trails as well as ruins of fortifications. As I walked all the trails over the course of the morning into the early afternoon the only warbler I had during the visit to Pigeon Island was a single St Lucia Warbler that showed briefly.  Always somewhat sad to visit St. Lucia as it is the former location of one of the only extinct wood warblers...the Semper's Warbler.  There is a slight chance it hangs on in the most remote parts of the island but the chances are very low.

Overall for the cruise I found all my targets with a total of seven species of warblers with three of those new for me. The new species were Masked Yellowthroat, Whistling Warbler and Plumbeous Warbler. I have now seen every warbler north of South America except for two species that occur mainly in the remote and largely inaccessible area of the Darian area on the border of Panama and Colombia (Tacarcuna Warbler and Pirre Warbler).

As promised here is a link to each guide I used on the various islands.  All were found by using the Caribbean Birding Trail link and I would highly recommend one and all if taking a trip to any of the islands.  A special thanks to each guide for providing some great birding days.

-Tobago I used Jason Radix (www.naturetobago.com) 

-Trinidad I used Faraaz Abdool (www.faraazabdool.com)

-St. Vincent I used Lystra Culzac (lystraculzac_wilson@hotmail.com)

-Dominica I used Bertrand Jno Baptiste AKA Dr Birdy (drbirdy2@cwdom.dm)