The Pursuit of Warblers: April 2026

Wednesday, April 22, 2026

Multiple new warbler species for the year in southeast Arizona -April 12-15

Grace's Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Red faced Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Virginia's Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Painted Redstart, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Black throated Gray Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'Audubon's', Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Townsend's Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Sunrise, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Sunday would be the last day of making long drives and I was up well before dawn again (an advantage to keeping my body on east coast time). My final destination would be an Airbnb in Green Valley where I would be spending three nights. I had a few ideas on what to do with my day before arriving at my lodging and I settled on driving directly to Mount Lemmon with the goal of potentially tracking down the last three warbler targets for the trip (Grace’s Warbler, Virginia’s Warbler and Red faced Warbler). The three and a quarter hour drive occurred almost completely in the dark. The weather was not as cooperative as I would have liked as the wind was obvious as I started up Mount Lemmon. On the plus side it was fairly sunny so it certainly could have been worse. I arrived at Incinerator Ridge and started walking up to the ridge from the main road. I had a Grace’s Warbler singing right away although seeing it was not in the cards right away. I made it to the top of the ridge and the wind was really strong and it was cold (air temps in the upper 40’s with a wind chill). I was really surprised to see many people camping out along the road…must have been a cold and uncomfortable night with all the wind. I then ran across a Virginia’s Warbler and got some distant photos as it got buffeted around in the wind. I tried walking some trails and although I heard a distant Red faced Warbler it was really tough to see any movement in the constantly swaying trees so I headed down the road back toward the car to get out of the worst of the wind and this proved to be a good idea as I got much better looks at both Grace’s Warblers and Red faced Warblers as well as a mixed species flock not far from the main road. Other warblers at the location included Audubon’s subspecies of Yellow rumped Warbler (the most numerous species at the location), Black throated Gray Warbler, Townsend’s Warbler and Painted Redstart. I then had to decide where to go next and decided to descend a little in elevation instead of going up higher on the mountain as there seemed to be lots traffic heading up. I picked a dirt road known as Soller's Road and yet again was happy with my choice as I immediately had warblers as I walked down the road with all the the species seen early (except Red faced Warbler) plus a male MacGillivray’s Warbler (not cooperative at all but it did add another new warbler species for the year) and an Orange crowned Warbler. I hit a few other spots on my way down without finding any other new warblers so ended the morning with nine species (including my three remaining targets for the trip). The stop at Mount Lemmon produced warbler species # 32-35 for the year.

Grace's Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 13, 2026

Hermit Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 13, 2026

Monday was forecast to be just as windy as the day before and I knew this would make birding a bit tough to say the least. Nonetheless I had hopes that I could find some sheltered spots and turn up some warblers. I was up way before dawn and after doing a little nocturnal birding I headed up to Madera Canyon. I had a few singing Lucy’s Warblers at a dry wash on my way up the road before arriving at the top to take a hike up the Old Baldy Trail. Seeing a few Painted Redstarts before leaving the parking lot was a good omen. Although breezy at times it was not as bad as I feared it would be initially. As I continued to gain elevation I started hearing Grace’s Warblers, more Painted Redstarts, Black throated Gray Warblers and a Yellow rumped Warbler. There was also a silent Orange crowned Warbler moving through and best of all was a male Hermit Warbler working through a pine tree and showing well enough to ID. I had this species as a possibility for the trip and was very happy to see it thus adding another new warbler for the year. The Hermit Warbler became species #36 on my quest. I will certainly catch up with more of them when we visit Oregon this summer on the way home from Alaska. I then tried the Santa Rita Lodge to see if any warblers were coming into the water feature (they were not) and took a walk near the Whitehouse Picnic Area where I had a few Lucy’s Warblers and a Black throated Gray Warbler. I called it quits by midday given the ever increasing wind. By the end of the morning I had seen seven species of warbler for the day with one new one for the year…not bad given the weather.

Lucy's Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Wilson's Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Painted Redstart, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Black throated Gray Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Nashville Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Townsend's Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

On my last full day of the trip I took advantage of less windy weather to start my day way before sunrise in Madera Canyon listening for nocturnal species and had great luck including my only lifer of the trip with a Spotted Owl. I hiked up the Old Baldy Trail in the dark and once it was light enough to see and the warblers started waking up I started my journey back down. Along the way I had decent numbers of warblers with the most numerous being Painted Redstarts and Grace’s Warblers with lesser numbers of Black throated Gray Warblers and Townsend’s Warblers. I finally made it to the parking lot at bit after 7:30AM (I started the walk a little before 4AM) and then headed to the Whitehouse Picnic Area trails and had three species of warblers including my first Lucy’s Warblers of the day. A brief stop at Santa Rita Lodge for a mid morning break produced a few Painted Redstarts moving through. I then tried my luck a bit further down the canyon in the area of Proctor Road and had some good luck there with a new warbler species with multiple Wilson’s Warblers. I finally left the canyon a little after noon after finding seven species of warblers for the morning.

For the Arizona portion of this trip I found a lucky 13 species of warblers with five new ones for the year.

Overall for the entire trip from Texas, through New Mexico and then Arizona I found all my targets as well as a couple of bonus western warblers to add to my US year total. The eight new species found on this trip in order of finding them were as follows: Golden cheeked Warbler, Colima Warbler, Lucy’s Warbler, Grace’s Warbler, Virginia’s Warbler, Red faced Warbler, MacGillivray’s Warbler and Hermit Warbler. I reached all my goals and more on the trip so it was worth the effort with lots of hiking and driving (1700 miles of driving overall was not fun at all). I now stand at 36 warbler species for the year and with May rapidly approaching I should be adding more to that total soon with the arrival of peak warbler migration at home.

Saturday, April 18, 2026

Lucy's Warbler and two local rarities on trip through New Mexico -April 11th

Northern Parula, Mesilla Valley Bosque SP, Las Cruces, NM, Apr 11, 2026

Lucy's Warbler, Mesilla Valley Bosque SP, Las Cruces, NM, Apr 11, 2026

Black throated Green Warbler, Mountain View Cemetery, Deming, NM, Apr 11, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Mountain View Cemetery, Deming, NM, Apr 11, 2026

On Saturday I was up early once again after getting to bed early after a long, grueling day of hiking on Friday. I started the six hour drive up to New Mexico on my way to Arizona way before it was light. The first few hours of driving was in the dark on some truly desolate roads…I had less than ten vehicles come by me in the opposite direction in those first couple hours. My plan for the day was to make it to Los Cruces to go to Mesilla Valley Bosque SP to try my luck in tracking down a Lucy’s Warbler for the year, a species known to be at the location. I would have multiple chances to get the species once I made it to Arizona but figured I would give it a try in New Mexico. The trip was fairly smooth with only one traffic tie up near El Paso that didn’t last too long and I made it to the park a little after 8AM (the area is another hour behind from home compared to the hour behind home in most of Texas). Despite still being sore I headed out on the trails looking and listening and after a little over an hour I heard a Lucy’s Warbler singing. It was working through an area of mesquite trees with at least one other individual and possibly two more. I got a few distant photos and a recording and as I waited around to better ones I had brief looks at an Orange crowned Warbler that just wanted to stay hidden. Not long after getting some slightly better photos of a Lucy’s I heard a very familiar song. I heard what sounded like a very quiet version of the song of a Northern Parula, an eastern species that should not be at the location. I got a crappy recording and then eventually got looks at it to confirm I was not hallucinating. It was indeed a stunning male Northern Parula and it was fairly cooperative for photos (at least as far as warblers go). It appears to be one of the few records in the state for the entire year so certainly a rarity. I then started the hour drive to my Airbnb in Deming and with still a few hours free before I could check in to my Airbnb I decided to bird at Mountain View Cemetery in Deming. It looked like it had potential as it contained quite a few well watered mature trees in an otherwise desert landscape and my thoughts were confirmed when I found another rarity for the day. This time it was a female Black throated Green Warbler, another eastern warbler species that is quite unusual in New Mexico. I also added another Orange crowned Warbler as well as at least two Yellow rumped Warblers (both Myrtle subspecies). I ended my time in New Mexico with five species of warbler with two being rarities in the state, Northern Parula and Black throated Green Warbler. The other species were Lucy’s Warbler, Orange crowned Warbler and Black throated Gray Warbler. The Lucy’s Warbler became species #31 so far for the year.

Friday, April 17, 2026

Golden cheeked Warbler and Colima Warbler in Texas -April 8-10

Golden cheeked Warbler, Balcones Canyonlands NWR, TX, Apr 8, 2026

I just returned from a whirlwind week long trip to Texas then up through New Mexico to Arizona in search of a number of new warblers for my warbler big year in the US. I will cover each state with a separate post starting with Texas. The two targets in the Texas portion of the trip were Golden cheeked Warbler in central Texas and Colima Warbler in the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend NP. The targets in Arizona (and perhaps New Mexico) included Virginia’s Warbler, Lucy’s Warbler, Grace’s Warbler and Red faced Warbler. I also had the chance to turn up a couple of western species that would be just starting to move through on migration including Hermit Warbler and MacGillivray’s Warbler although neither would be critical to miss as I should be able to get them later in the year when we stop in Oregon on our way home from Alaska in July.

I began the trip down to Texas with an early morning flight out of Hartford into Dallas. Thankfully the flight was on time and after getting through the airport and then a shuttle to the rental car center (no airport should have a shuttle for rental cars and I usually avoid any airports that have them but no choice this time) I was on the road by around 10AM. I then had a three and a half hour drive to my Airbnb in Liberty Hill to the northwest of Austin. Before checking into my lodging in the late afternoon I would try my luck in tracking down my first target species, Golden cheeked Warbler. Golden cheeked Warbler is an endangered species that only breeds in central Texas. I was last down in the area back in 2017 and I remember having good luck at the Warbler Vista area of Balcones Canyonland NWR so that is where I headed. Trying to track down birds on a sunny afternoon with temps around 80 usually doesn’t produce much as the birds get quieter. Nonetheless I managed to get a Golden cheeked Warbler fairly quickly and got a few photos and recordings. I heard a few others singing although trying to get more photos proved to be a fruitless endeavor for me. Golden cheeked Warbler is endangered for a variety of reasons with the biggest being loss of breeding territory to ‘development’. Balcones Canyonlands NWR was created mainly with this species in mind and the warblers seem to be doing well. The only other species of warbler in the area (and the most abundant) were Orange crowned Warbler. I also tried briefly at Doeskin Ranch (another area of the Balcones Canyonland NWR) for additional Golden cheeked Warblers without any luck. By this time it was getting to be late afternoon and I still needed to drive a bit to get to my lodging so I headed out. With the Golden cheeked Warbler down I would be able to head out early for the long drive to Big Bend NP without having to stick around in the morning to try to track down the warbler. The Golden cheeked Warbler became warbler #29 for the year for me in the US.

On Thursday I made the long (nearly seven hour) drive to Big Bend NP…a place that truly is in the middle of nowhere. I broke up the trip a little by stopping at South Llano River SP where I hoped to get some more looks and photos of Golden cheeked Warblers (the park is one of the most western spots to get the species). After getting up early I arrived a little after 6:30AM and then spent the next two hours plus exploring the area. Unfortunately I had to deal with some drizzle and overcast conditions during my time there and struck out on finding any Golden cheeked Warblers. In fact I had just a couple warblers with just one each of Orange crowned Warbler and Nashville Warbler. I’m sure with more time to explore I could have turned up more stuff but with nearly a five hour drive still looming ahead of me I wanted to get on the road. In the middle of the afternoon I arrived at my lodging in Terlingua (to the northwest of Big Bend NP) and got settled and made preparations for the long hike the following day.

Colima Warbler, Big Bend NP, TX, Apr 10, 2026

Townsend's Warbler, Big Bend NP, TX, Apr 10, 2026

Chisos Mountains, Big Bend NP, TX, Apr 10, 2026

Friday morning was the day for the long hike up into the Chisos Mountains at Big Bend NP to look for the Colima Warbler. Colima Warbler breeds primarily in Mexico with its range just barely reaching into the US in the upper parts of the Chisos Mountains. The species just starts to arrive in the area in mid April with most arriving later in April. With none reported so far for the year in the area I was worried I would miss it. In order to see the species you have to hike up into the mountains and it is a steep hike. One can either take the most direct route up the Pinnacles Trail or the less steep but longer Laguna Meadow Trail. I decided on the most direct route so the hike would be steep. I arrived well before dawn and started the hike around 5:20AM and the hike was even steeper than I remember…although being a bit older probably didn’t help! I made it up to the pass through the mountains right around dawn and started the walk down the Boot Canyon Trail. After about 3/4 of a mile I heard a Colima Warbler singing and after a few issues with my phone I was able to get some recordings as I searched for the bird. After quite a bit of looking I caught sight of the bird as it worked through the trees feeding. I got a few marginal photos despite the bird not being very cooperative for shots. The bird was still singing when I left to continue my walk. Finding the warbler fairly quickly was fantastic as it took the pressure off a bit for the rest of the day. If I had missed seeing one I had plans to try again the following day but that prospect was not high on my list of fun things to do as it would necessitate another drive down to the park, another hike up and down, limited time available to look for the bird and then the long drive to my lodging in New Mexico. With my main target down I then decided to continue my hike down to Boot Spring and then a return trip down the Colima Trail to the Laguna Meadow Trail in the hopes of turning up more Colima Warblers. During the very long walk back down my right leg started hurting and it only got worse as I continued down. Unfortunately stopping to give it a rest only made moving again harder as it started stiffening up so I pressed on. Despite walking multiple miles more in appropriate habitat I never saw or heard another Colima Warbler. In fact the only other warbler I saw for the entire morning was a single Townsend’s Warbler. The day continued to heat up as I made progress toward the car and eventually arrived at the car a little after noon and not long after my water ran out. I then had a well deserved break and more water. I had thoughts about stopping at a few other spots but I was beat and the leg needed a rest so I headed back to my lodging. The Colima Warbler became warbler species #30 for the year and was the first Colima Warbler seen in the US for the year.

Warbler species total for the Texas portion of the trip came to just five species but two of those were big targets for me so it was quality over quantity.

A slightly early Black and White Warbler on another warm day

Black and White Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 17, 2026

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 17, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 17, 2026

After a very successful trip from Texas to Arizona I arrived back home on Wednesday evening to summer like weather (multiple posts on the trip coming up as soon as I go through all the photos). The warm weather certainly had me thinking of some early arriving warblers thanks to southerly winds for multiple nights with the chance for a southern overshoot always on my mind. Yesterday was in the 80's with a fair amount of sun and although a little cooler and cloudier today it still got into the low 70's. Yellow rumped Warblers, Palm Warblers and Pine Warblers have arrived in numbers plus some Louisiana Waterthrushes. I also found a slightly early Black and White Warbler at a foggy Quabbin Park. The extreme warmth will quickly be coming to an end with temps that will drop substantially over the weekend.

The Pursuit of Warblers