Saturday, December 13, 2025

Better looks and some photos of the continued Audubon's Warbler

Yellow rumped Warbler 'Audubon's'
Yellow rumped Warbler 'Audubon's', Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Dec 13, 2025
Yellow rumped Warbler 'Audubon's'
Yellow rumped Warbler 'Audubon's', Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Dec 13, 2025
Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle'
Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Dec 13, 2025
Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle'
Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Dec 13, 2025

With a calm morning after multiple days of cold and windy weather I headed back over to Hadley before sunrise to once again look for the Audubon's Warbler that first showed up there on November 30th.  I have tried for it multiple times since that date and had only found it one other time before today and that was a brief flyover.  To say the bird is a bit elusive would be an understatement!  It has been very tough to pin down to a location or even figure out if there are other birds it is hanging with.  Today it seemed to be mainly by itself and only called a few times.  I initially heard it flyover after about a half hour of looking and listening and then didn't have it again for an hour plus.  I finally got decent looks and slightly better photos compared to what I got on the initial day of discovery.  With each visit I feel I'm slowly starting to figure the bird out but there are still more questions than answers when it comes to figuring out this individual.  Oddly it does not seem to usually associate with the multiple 'Myrtle' Yellow rumped Warblers overwintering in the area.

Tuesday, December 9, 2025

Audubon's Warbler subspecies continues as well as multiple Myrtle Warbler subspecies on several cold days

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle'
Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Dec 9, 2025
Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle'
Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Dec 9, 2025
Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle'
Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Arcadia, Easthampton, MA, Dec 6, 2025
Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle'
Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Dec 4, 2025

The last week plus has been cold and snowy at times...really mid winter like temps.  I got out a few mornings to check for overwintering warblers with the most productive being this morning (despite the -1 temp to start the day).  I yet again found multiple Yellow rumped Warblers along the river in Hadley and added an Audubon's Warbler for the month as the individual seen at the end of November has resurfaced.  I tried for it multiple times without success before today and even today I had only brief looks and a few calls as it moved around rapidly.  Beyond the Yellow rumped Warblers at the above location I found at least two more overwintering individuals at Arcadia a few days ago.  Always great to see multiple locations hosting the species for the winter.

Monday, December 1, 2025

Multiple Yellow rumped Warblers to start off December

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle'
Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Hadley, MA, Dec 1, 2025
Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle'
Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Hadley, MA, Dec 1, 2025
Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle'
Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Hadley, MA, Dec 1, 2025
Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle'
Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Hadley, MA, Dec 1, 2025
Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle'
Yellow rumped Warblers 'myrtle', Hadley, MA, Dec 1, 2025

I headed out this morning with cool and windy conditions and initially I was not going to go back to Hadley to try again for the Audubon's Warbler I had there yesterday.  The weather was not optimal plus it was the first day of shotgun season for deer season and that usually means you don't want to be anywhere near any place where hunting is allowed.  After a quick stop at Winsor Dam I decided to try my luck over in Hadley again with the couple hours I had free.  I just kept my fingers crossed there would not be many hunters at the location and thankfully there was just one.  I didn't want to disrupt any hunters (seen or unseen) so did not cover all the areas I normally would have covered.  Although I did not find the Audubon's I did have at least nine Myrtle subspecies of Yellow rumped Warblers.  With the warblers this morning I have extended by streak of seeing at least one warbler species in Hampshire County to 104 consecutive months!