I once again stayed fairly close to home this morning with a few stops before heading back home to be with Wilson. I was out before sunrise and made a few stops in Belchertown and Ware with my longest stop at Quabbin Park. Before I even left the house I got a singing Louisiana Waterthrush along Jabish Brook (I had not heard one at home since mid May!). The highlight for the morning was a Cerulean Warbler at Quabbin Park that was singing a parula like song in an area away from the spot I have had Cerulean Warbler on and off since May 22nd (there are recordings on the bird in the Quabbin Park eBird list linked above). When I first heard the bird I honestly expected to see a parula when I finally got a look at it but instead it was a Cerulean Warbler. Always fun to run across unusual sounding individuals. Overall for the morning I had a dozen species with lots of evidence of successful breeding with adults carrying food and a few juveniles around. No sign of the Lawrence's Warbler during my time in the park this morning but I suspect it is still around the area somewhere.
After another long shift at work and getting out much later than I hoped I decided to stretch my legs a bit with a short walk at Quabbin Park. I was very happy to relocate the Lawrence's Warbler that I first found at the location back in mid May. I last saw the bird on June 1st and have searched for it multiple times since that date without any luck. No idea where he has been hiding for the last few weeks but I certainly was happy to see him still around. No sign of the other unusual warbler (Cerulean Warbler) that has been in the park lately and I last had on June 16th.
I was able to follow the entire nesting cycle of a pair of American Redstarts this spring in Quabbin Park from the beginning of the nest being built, to incubation, nestlings and finally fledging. I first noticed the female starting to build the nest on May 16 and my initial thought was the location was too exposed. It was a spot perhaps 8-10 feet up in a small sapling on a steep slope that put the nest at eye level along the trail. The nesting material seemed to be primarily grasses and spider webs.
I returned the following day and the female was quite busy adding more and more to the nest. I didn't stay around too long as I didn't want to disturb her at all.
By the next day on May 18th the nest was getting close to being completed and my earlier worries about the nest being too exposed and obvious were only reinforced as the amount of spider web material had only increased and the bright white material glowed in the sunlight. With little in the way of leaves to shield it at all I didn't expect the nest to be successful. I checked it a couple more times over the next several days but no sign of a bird in the nest. There may have been eggs in the nest at this point but I didn't want to get too close to check and I doubt I would have been able to see into the bottom of the nest even if I wanted to.
To end out the month of May I checked on the nest as I visited Quabbin Park again and found the female sitting tight on the nest.
The next day found more activity with the female still on the nest but she was more restless and the male was coming into the nest with foods occasionally and appeared to be bringing it to the female. I watched him give her food twice and it appeared she may have been feeding nestlings at that point.
My visit to the nest site yesterday found four quite large nestlings being fed by both the male and female and their size pointed toward imminent fledgling (likely within a few days). Thankfully there was no sign of a cowbird chick in among the nestlings as they all appeared to be around the same size. It was very interesting to watch the constant flow of food arriving for the nestlings by the two hard working parents.
Although limited with time this morning I wanted to make a quick stop by the nest site before the rain arrived overnight and into tomorrow. It appears the nestlings have fledged as the nest was empty and did not appear to have been damaged by a predator. It was great to watch the entire nesting process and hopefully the nestlings make it and will be heading south come fall.
I have not had a lot of chances to get out lately due to work and staying home with Wilson as he recovers from his surgery. I decided to get out the door early this morning and make the trip over to Westfield in Hampden County to check on the breeding Hooded Warblers there. This is the only consistently productive location for the species anywhere in the valley and they have been breeding at the location for several years. I only had a couple hours to make it over there, find the birds and then get back home so Wilson would not be alone for long. I arrived there around 5:30 and started my walk up the mountain. As I was walking up I noticed several species that seemed agitated and I figured a predator of some sort was nearby. After walking a little further a young Eastern Coyote popped out ever so briefly before quickly disappearing back into the woods...predator mystery solved! After a bit of looking and listening I heard a Hooded Warbler chipping in a dense area of mountain laurel and I got a few brief looks at a female and then shortly afterward a male. The female was collecting food so I suspect they have a nest of young somewhere nearby. There was no singing at all from the Hooded Warblers but I suppose if they are busy feeding young in the nest the urge to sing is not as strong as it would be otherwise. I wish I had more time to search further for additional pairs as I'm certain there are others present beyond the ones I saw. I got a few crummy photos in bad light but I was happy to get any shots at all.
