After a raw and rainy day yesterday that continued into this morning I didn't have a lot of expectations in finding any new arrivals as migration conditions were so poor. I was delighted to be wrong with my expectations when I had my earliest ever Louisiana Waterthrush in Hampshire County (beating my previous record of April 5 set back in 2022). I was walking at Lake Wallace primarily looking for some Palm Warblers and heard a few calls along the outlet stream and then a single song of a Louisiana Waterthrush. I scanned for a bit and then saw it as it actively fed and continued to call. Always nice to set a new arrival date and even better on such a crappy weather day with temps just above freezing. The typical arrival for Louisiana Waterthrush in the county (using by own personal data from the last 15 years) is the end of the second week of April. Once I got some documentation photos and recordings of the waterthrush I continued on to find some Palm Warblers and located at least ten individuals feeding low along the edge of the lake (typical behavior on a cold day in early spring for the species). I also had at least one Pine Warbler at the lake, giving me my first three warbler species day of the spring. I visited a few other locations over the course of the morning and had more Palm Warblers and Pine Warblers. The first of what will hopefully be many good mornings of warblers going forward.
