Once I got out of work on New Years Day I headed out looking for warblers to start out 2025. The continued drizzle in the morning after a night of heavy rain curtailed my plans a bit. I decided I would make my first stop the Honey Pot to try to catch up with a very late Palm Warbler reported at the location yesterday. Not surprisingly I did not relocate it but did have a number of other notable species around. The rain largely stopped by around 8:30 so I tried my luck in tracking down some Yellow rumped Warblers along the river and I only managed to get muddy with no warblers heard or seen. I then headed to South Hadley to try to see the overwintering Cape May Warbler that I initially saw there on December 14th when I returned from my trip down to Peru and Bolivia and then saw again on Christmas Eve during a bit of snow. The homeowner said it has disappeared for long periods lately so it was far from a sure thing. A text before I arrived initially reported the bird as not present but it showed up right before I arrived. It seemed a bit more skittish than prior visits with more time spent in a dense thicket than on the feeders. It teed up nicely once away from the feeders but a car horn scared the bird before I could get a photo. Eventually it showed itself long enough for me to snap off a few photos before I headed for home. Really amazing the bird continues to survive. Some upcoming cold weather is not good news for it but it has survived some bitter cold already so hopefully it pulls through.
