The Pursuit of Warblers: 2025

Friday, October 3, 2025

Another oddly plumaged Yellow rumped Warbler today

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle' with extensive white on head, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Oct 3, 2025

Hot on the heels of finding two unusually plumaged warblers yesterday including a possible hybrid Yellow rumped Warbler and an odd Black throated Blue Warbler I found another unusual individual today in the East Meadows of Northampton. The Yellow rumped Warbler had extensive white splotching on the head and neck. I have seen this species with more extesive white a few times with the most extreme being one I had at the house back in May 2020. Always worth sorting through the hordes of Yellow rumped Warblers to try to find an odd individual.

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Oct 3, 2025

Palm Warbler 'yellow', East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Oct 3, 2025

Common Yellowthroat, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Oct 3, 2025

Common Yellowthroat, Belchertown, MA, Oct 3, 2025

During the rest of my morning I ran across a few warblers with the most abundant being Yellow rumped Warblers and Palm Warblers and much lesser numbers of a few other species. The areas I covered were not all typical warbler hot spots so not surprised to have less diversity this morning compared to the last couple with just nine species with a few represented by just a single individual.

Thursday, October 2, 2025

Possible hybrid Yellow rumped Warbler plus an oddly plumaged Black throated Blue Warbler to start off October

Yellow rumped Warbler (either a hybrid or aberrant individual), Belchertown, MA, Oct 2, 2025

Black throated Blue Warbler with unusual plumage, Belchertown, MA, Oct 2, 2025

Northern Parula, Belchertown, MA, Oct 2, 2025

Orange crowned Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Oct 2, 2025

Tennessee Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Oct 2, 2025

Cape May Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Oct 2, 2025

Blackburnian Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Oct 2, 2025

Northern Parula, Belchertown, MA, Oct 2, 2025

Ovenbird, Belchertown, MA, Oct 2, 2025

Black throated Blue Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Oct 2, 2025

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Belchertown, MA, Oct 2, 2025

Common Yellowthroat, Wentworth Farm Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Oct 2, 2025

Nashville Warbler, Wentworth Farm Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Oct 2, 2025

Blackpoll Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Oct 1, 2025

American Redstart, Belchertown, MA, Oct 1, 2025

Blackpoll Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Oct 1, 2025

October is off to a great start with a good showing of late season migrant warblers plus a few late species still around. The most exciting sightings by far were a possible hybrid Yellow rumped Warbler and an oddly plumaged Black throated Blue Warbler. First a bit about the possible hybrid. I saw the bird in a mixed flock at a spot in Belchertown and immediately noticed the yellowish throat of the bird and snapped off a few pictures before it disappeared, not to be seen again. The question now becomes if it is a hybrid of an Audubon's x Myrtle subspecies of Yellow rumped Warbler. I have reached out to a few experts on it and the consensus is that it may indeed be a hybrid but could also be an aberrant plumaged Myrtle subspecies. Whatever it actually is tough to say for sure and certainly added some excitement to the morning. In the same area I had a Black throated Blue Warbler with some unusual plumage with a whitish throat and more white on the flank than typical. Overall for the first couple days of the month I have found 16 species of warblers so far with the most notable being numbers of Ovenbirds, an Orange crowned Warbler, Cape May Warbler and multiple Northern Parula and Black throated Blue Warblers. I have mainly stayed in the Belchertown and Pelham area with a brief detour to Amherst. The last two mornings have been quite chilly but thankfully the ample sunshine warms things up a bit by the end of the day although not as warm as recently with highs in the 60's. although the breeze yesterday made viewing a bit tough. We are headed toward another warm up through the weekend.

Tuesday, September 30, 2025

September ends with a total of 27 species in the county for the month

Black throated Blue Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 30, 2025

Ovenbird, Belchertown, MA, Sep 30, 2025

Black throated Green Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 30, 2025

Ovenbird, Belchertown, MA, Sep 29, 2025

Common Yellowthroat, Belchertown, MA, Sep 29, 2025

Northern Parula, Belchertown, MA, Sep 29, 2025

Blackpoll Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 29, 2025

Northern Waterthrush, Belchertown, MA, Sep 29, 2025

Tennessee Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 29, 2025

Black Bear, Belchertown, MA, Sep 29, 2025

The peak of fall warbler migration has now come to an end with the ending of the month of September. It was a great month for warblers with a total of 27 species including four Connecticut Warblers, a Mourning Warbler as well as multiple late species. The end of the month also brought a great influx of Blackpoll Warblers as well as increased numbers of Yellow rumped Warblers and Palm Warblers. I also had Black Bears in various spots for multiple days in a row. October will bring the peak of these two warblers and rapidly decreasing numbers of most of the remaining species. I will be out as much as I can trying to track down late staying warblers, more Connecticut Warblers and with lots of luck, a true rarity from the west.

Saturday, September 27, 2025

Big influx of Blackpoll Warblers the last couple mornings

Blackpoll Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 27, 2025

Northern Parula, Belchertown, MA, Sep 27, 2025

Cape May Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 27, 2025

Nashville Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 27, 2025

Ovenbird, Belchertown, MA, Sep 27, 2025

Cape May Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 27, 2025

Blackpoll Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 27, 2025

Chestnut sided Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 27, 2025

Wilson sleeping, Belchertown, MA, Sep 27, 2025

Cape May Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 26, 2025

Blackpoll Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 26, 2025

Black throated Green Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 26, 2025

Northern Parula, Belchertown, MA, Sep 26, 2025

Blackpoll Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 26, 2025

Cape May Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 26, 2025

Black and White Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 26, 2025

After a couple days of somewhat rainy weather we returned to mainly sunny and rather warm conditions the last couple days and although the winds were not perfect for migration the last two mornings have produced impressive numbers of Blackpoll Warblers with double digit counts at multiple locations both days...with my highest count at a single spot being 33 in a bit under a mile of walking! I also had above normal counts of Northern Parula, Ovenbird, Cape May Warblers and Chestnut sided Warblers in at least a few spots. This morning had the biggest diversity and numbers with a total of 17 species. We should have continued warmth until a cold front comes in to start off the month of October and I expect to see the next big push after that front.