A flurry of warblers to end April

Magnolia Warbler, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Apr 30, 2024

Blue winged Warbler, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Apr 30, 2024

Common Yellowthroat, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Apr 30, 2024

Black and White Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 30, 2024

Black throated Blue Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 30, 2024

Prairie Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 30, 2024

Northern Waterthrush, Rail trail, Ware, MA, Apr 28, 2024

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Apr 26, 2024

April has now come to an end and with it comes the beginning of the peak of warbler migration when every day finds new arrivals.  The very end of the month has brought a flurry of species for the last three days with two new species on the 28th (Ovenbird and Northern Parula), four new species yesterday (Common Yellowthroat, Black throated Blue Warbler, Nashville Warbler and Chestnut sided Warbler) and five more new species today including American Redstart, Blue winged Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Tennessee Warbler and an early Magnolia Warbler (missing a record early date for me by just one day).  The weather the last few weeks has been wetter than usual with average to slightly lower than usual temperatures overall and this has kept the leaves from coming out as early as they have in the last several years. This has made spotting birds a bit easier but this will change rapidly over the next several days.  There was a decent influx of species last night with the most numerous species being Black and White Warblers.  Overall for the month I have had 20 species with the highlight among them being a record early Hooded Warbler that showed up in Hadley on April 23rd.  

Unfortunately I hurt my back at work which has curtailed some of my birding plans going forward through May. The only silver lining is that walking is about the only thing that makes the pain go away for a bit and the doctor has encouraged walking as much as I can tolerate. I will be out as much as I can be but long, steeper hikes will have to wait a bit.

Black and White Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 30, 2024

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 23, 2024

Being home has allowed me to add more warbler species at home and I have had a dozen species so far and did capture my second warbler at the water feature with a Yellow rumped Warbler.

Hooded Warbler in Hadley (plus other new warbler arrivals)

Hooded Warbler, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Apr 23, 2024

Hooded Warbler, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Apr 23, 2024

Hooded Warbler, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Apr 23, 2024

Hooded Warbler, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Apr 23, 2024

Hooded Warbler, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Apr 23, 2024

Black and White Warbler, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Apr 23, 2024

Louisiana Waterthrush, Hadley, MA, Apr 23, 2024

Warbler migration finally got up and running in a big way today with the arrival of a Hooded Warbler in Hadley.  The migration conditions improved a bit last night after several days on nearly nonexistent migration into the area.  I had high hopes when I set out this morning despite the temps being below freezing.  I started my morning along the river in Hadley and the activity was a little slow (likely due to the cool temps) but I did have a number of Yellow rumped Warblers and a few Palm Warblers plus the first Louisiana Waterthrush I was able to get photos of this spring.  After a little more than an hour in Hadley I decided to head up to UMASS where I had five species of warbler including my first Yellow Warbler of the season and a photogenic Black and White Warbler.  By this point it was around 8:30 and I had to decide where to go next before heading home.  I thought about going to Silvio Conte in Hadley but decided instead to go to Lake Wallace.  Not long after I arrived there I got a message from Greg letting me know that a group of young birders had found a Hooded Warbler at Silvio Conte.  Although I would not typically go back to a general area I just left, for an unusual warbler I almost always will.  I made my way back to Hadley to Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River where I arrived around 9:30 and headed to the area where the warbler was reported.  Although I had a few Palm Warbler and Yellow rumped Warbler I had no luck seeing or hearing the Hooded Warbler.  I decided to try a few nearby areas that had great habitat for the warbler.  After about 20 minutes of searching I heard an odd song that sounded like an abbreviated Hooded Warbler song (almost Magnolia Warbler like).  After a few minutes I caught some fleeting glimpses of the warbler as it worked its way through dense thickets.  A Blue Jay flew in close to it and the warbler flushed up and flew right over me and landed up in a tree where I was able to get better looks and the first photos of it.  I was able to point the rarity out to a few nearby birders who all had decent looks at it.  The warbler continued to work through the dense undergrowth where it would sing from time to time and then go silent for periods.  I got the word out to others that I had relocated the bird and a large number of birders were able to come by and see it.  Hooded Warbler is a rare warbler in the area with just a few sightings every year (with some years having none at all).  This is my personal earliest date for the species in the county with the earliest previous arrival being April 30th of 2021.  Hopefully this is just a taste of unusual warblers to come this spring.  I ended my day with eight species of warbler...my best day yet for this spring migration season.

Below are the sightings I have had of Hooded Warbler over the years in the county:

May 12, 2009                             Hadley

June 4-25, 2011                          Quabbin 

May 6, 2012-July 1, 2012           Quabbin

May 13, 2014                              Hadley

May 4, 2015                                Hadley

May 15, 2015                              Hadley

June 17, 2017                              Easthampton

May 3, 2018                                Hadley, Amherst (two individuals for day)

May 16, 2018                              Amherst

May 10-11, 2019                         Amherst

June 1, 2019                                Quabbin

June 7-8, 2020                             Hadley

April 30, 2021                             Hadley

May 17, 2021                              Hadley

May 13-20, 2023                         Hadley (likely same individual)

Slow migration so far but with some warblers around

Black and White Warbler, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 20, 2024

Black and White Warbler, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 20, 2024

'

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 20, 2024

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 20, 2024

Yesterday was the first day of the migration season I was able to find five species of warblers with the new one being my first Black and White Warbler along the rail trail in Amherst. Migration conditions continue to be subpar and I have not had any early arrivals. Even the number of expected early season migrants (such as Palm Warblers and Yellow rumped Warblers) are still not around in as high a number as I would expect by this point in April. I'm still out as much as I can be trying to track down as many warblers as I can and always hoping for a rarity to be among the more expected species. 

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Belchertown Land Trust Trail, Belchertown, MA, Apr 21, 2024

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Belchertown Land Trust Trail, Belchertown, MA, Apr 21, 2024

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 21, 2024

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 21, 2024

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 21, 2024

Today started off quite cold with temps at freezing with an occasional light wind early on...certainly not feeling very spring like.  I stayed in the Ware/Belchertown area for the day and only managed to turn up three species of warblers.  There seemed to be more Yellow rumped Warblers around then in previous days so perhaps a few more moved in overnight.  Monday night looks to be the next push of migrants as conditions improve a bit for new arrivals. 

Pine Warbler and Black capped Chickadee, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 19, 2024

I have had three species of warbler at the house so far and I managed to catch my first species at the water feature yesterday with the arrival of a Pine Warbler.

Mid April warblers

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 13, 2024

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 13, 2024

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 13, 2024

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 14, 2024

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 15, 2024

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 15, 2024

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 15, 2024

Pine Warbler, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 15, 2024

After a brief warm up that resulted in a big migration night on Tuesday the 8th into Wednesday morning the weather then turned cooler again with heavy rain that turned to more occasional rain and wind out of the west.  I got out a bit on Wednesday morning and had my first Louisiana Waterthrush of the year here as well as a decent influx of Palm Warblers.  With work on Thursday and then rain most of Friday I didn't get much birding in.  Saturday was quite cool with temps that topped out around 50 with strong winds but I did find some warblers before the wind got too strong.  Sunday was a bit better with sunny conditions in the morning that quickly faded to clouds with some rain showers by midday.  I started my morning along the rail trail in Ware before making my way back to Lake Wallace.  The predominant warbler was once again Palm Warblers, with several showing well.  Monday was a much better day with warmer temps that eventually made it well into the 60's.  I started the foggy morning along the rail trail in Amherst before working back toward home, with an hour stop at Lake Wallace.  I tried my best to find other new arrivals and possibly a rarity but had to be content with the four species expected to be in the area by this time.

First Louisiana Waterthrush among four species of warblers this morning

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Lake Wallace,  Belchertown, MA, Apr 10, 2024

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Lake Wallace,  Belchertown, MA, Apr 10, 2024

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Lake Wallace,  Belchertown, MA, Apr 10, 2024

Pine Warbler, Lake Wallace,  Belchertown, MA, Apr 10, 2024

Pine Warbler, Fitzgerald Lake, Northampton, MA, Apr 10, 2024

After getting out of work this morning I headed out to track down warblers.  Migration conditions finally improved a bit with some warm temps the last two days.  I managed to have my best morning so far for the spring migration season with my first Louisiana Waterthrush at Fitzgerald Lake and double digit counts of Palm Warblers at multiple locations.  I also added a few Pine Warblers and Yellow rumped Warblers for the day, giving me four species for the day.  Palm Warblers were the most abundant species and they certainly had arrived in numbers with the more favorable migration conditions.  Although it can be tedious at times to wade through the hordes of Palm Warblers and Yellow rumped Warblers early in the migration season it can be worth it as rarities/early arrivals can join the more common species.

First Palm Warbler of the spring

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 6, 2024

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 6, 2024

Despite looking intently for Palm Warblers to end out the month of March and then looking again when I had free time to start April, today was the first time I had success with a single Palm Warbler at Lake Wallace this morning.  It looks to be the first Palm Warbler reported anywhere in western Massachusetts so the species is a few days behind in migration but given the poor migration conditions the last several days it is not too surprising.  Hopefully better migration conditions will arrive with warming temps in the coming week and with it more warblers.