Cape May Warbler, South Hadley, MA, Dec 14, 2024
Cape May Warbler, South Hadley, MA, Dec 14, 2024
Cape May Warbler, South Hadley, MA, Dec 14, 2024
Cape May Warbler, South Hadley, MA, Dec 14, 2024
Cape May Warbler, South Hadley, MA, Dec 14, 2024
Cape May Warbler, South Hadley, MA, Dec 14, 2024
After a long and eventful trip back from Peru and Bolivia I headed out this morning into the cold in the hope of tracking down a Cape May Warbler that appears to be attempted to overwinter at a private residence (posts covering the Peru and Bolivia will be up as soon as I can get around to it). I originally heard about the bird from Greg while I was in Peru on December 8th and I reached out to Greg to see if I could try to see the bird when I finally got back home (assuming it stayed). Once I was home I immediately reached out to Greg and he put me in touch with the homeowners who reported to bird was seen as recently as yesterday afternoon. Although I was very tired I headed out on a very cold morning (around 10 degrees) in the hopes of seeing the bird before I returned home to try to catch up on some sleep. The homeowner stated he usually puts the feeders out around 7:30 so I figured I would stop by around eight. Given the very cold temps in the morning I pushed this time off until probably 8:30-9 but then the homeowner texted me and let me know the bird was already back despite the cold I immediately headed down. I arrived a bit after eight and started looking and within a few minutes saw it working an area of rocks before flying to some small bushes in front of the house where it stayed put in the sun for several minutes. The gracious homeowners then invited me in from the cold to view the feeders from inside and the bird came in several times to the suet feeder as well as a brief stop at a seed feeder as well as apparently foraging on the ground. The bird looked quite healthy and likely is roosting at night in a nearby thick tangle of evergreens and makes an appearance as soon as the feeders are put out. I had a great conversation with the homeowners regarding the rarity of the species for this time of year and the best way to give the bird the best chance of survival. This is the only record I could find for the species anywhere in western Massachusetts between the winter period between December-March. This becomes the second species of warbler for me this month in the county after seeing some
Yellow rumped Warblers on the first before heading off to South America and extends my streak with two warbler species to an amazing 33 months. My personal previous late date for the species was October 15 which I set last year and the species is usually gone by the beginning of October. It will be interesting to see how long it sticks around given that it seems to have great shelter and a steady food supply. A big 'thank you' to the homeowners for letting me stop by to see the bird.
No comments:
Post a Comment