Warblers through the third week of September plus a look at a couple species of vagrant western warblers

Palm Warbler 'western', Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Sep 20, 2019

Black throated Green Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 19, 2019

Prairie Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Sep 16, 2019

American Redstart, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Sep 15, 2019

Blue winged Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 11, 2019

Tennessee Warbler, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Sep 21, 2019

The peak of warbler migration as far as diversity goes has now passed but there are still a lot of warblers to come with the large numbers of Palm and Yellow rumped Warblers yet to arrive  So far for the month I have 27 species with Worm eating Warbler being the most unusual.  The number of Connecticut Warblers total just three so far with no great looks but I hope the next week or so produces more.  The numbers of Tennessee and Cape May Warblers are a bit above average but not surprising given the large numbers the last couple years.  Bay breasted Warblers have not been as prevalent as I thought they would be given the record spring for the species (and others) around here (link to large numbers of spring warblers).  I think there are still some birds to come but my best guess is that a large number have moved past given the spectacular migration conditions over the last couple weeks.  I will do a more detailed look at the fall migration once September comes to an end.


Besides the large numbers of southern warblers brought up to Nova Scotia compliments of Hurricane Dorian there have been a few noteworthy warbler sightings in Massachusetts in the last several days including a Townsend's Warbler at Robinson's Farm in Marblehead on September 15th (eBird list) and a Black throated Gray Warbler on the south end of Monomoy Island on the cape on September 16th (eBird list).  Both species are review species for the state with just a handful of accepted records.  The Townsend's Warbler record is the first one ever for the month of September in the state (most past records are much later in the fall and into winter).

Looking at the larger context of these two western species I went back and looked at records in the east (midwest to the coast and down to the mid Atlantic plus the Atlantic Provinces of Canada) in late August through September for both species on eBird from the 1990's until now.

Townsend's Warbler records are as follows by date of occurrence:

1992 -9/14, Hartlan Point, Nova Scotia
1994 -9/18, Cape d'Or, Nova Scotia
1995- 9/3, Nova Scotia, Southwest tip of island (2 individuals!)
2010 -9/27, offshore, Lake Michigan, Wisconsin
2011 -9/17-9-18, Assateague Island NS, Maryland
2011 -9/28, Sandy Hook, New Jersey
2012 -8/13, Forsythe NWR, New Jersey
2012 -9/8, Magee Marsh, Ohio
2018 -8/24, Nantucket, Massachusetts
2018 -9/9, Sandy Hook, New Jersey
2018 -9/15, Bake Oven Knob, Pennsylvania
2019 -9/1, Potawatomi SP, Wisconsin
2019 -9/14, Marblehead, Massachusetts
2019 -9/15-9-17, Chicago, Illinois
2019 -9/16, Island Beach SP, New Jersey
2019 -9/22  Ferryland, Newfoundland

As you can see the last two years have had several records each...it will be interesting to see if the trend continues.  There are certainly records that are missing from the eBird database but it gives you an idea of the rarity of the species out east.

Black throated Gray Warbler records are as follows by date of occurrence:

1972 -9/29, State College, Pennsylvania
1974 -8/10, Scotia Barrens, Pennsylvania
1987 -8/30, Island Beach SP, New Jersey
1989 -9/10, Saylesville, Wisconsin
1992 -9/7, Point Pelee, Ontario
1994 -9/30, Talbot Cty, Maryland
1996 -9/14, Toronto, Ontario
1999 -9/21-9-22, Isle of Shoals, New Hampshire
2000 -9/27, Mt Auburn Cemetery, Massachusetts
2001 -9/8, Presque Isle SP, Pennsylvania
2004 -9/17, Fisherman Island NWR, Virginia
2006 -9/25  Oakland, New Jersey
2007 -9/22, Plymouth, Massachusetts
2008 -9/21-9/22,  Central Park, New York
2010 -9/10, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts
2010 -9/18-9/30, West Dupage Wood Forest Preserve, Illinois
2010 -9/27, Stoneham, Massachusetts
2011 -9/29, Cape May, New Jersey
2011 -9/30, Cape Henlopen SP, Delaware
2011 -9/24-9/25, Magee Marsh, Ohio
2014 -9/23, Gooseberry Neck, Massachusetts
2015 -9/7, Dahlem Center, Michigan
2015 -9/24, Stratford, Connecticut
2017 -9/17, Chatham, Massachusetts
2018 -9/29, Cape Henlopen SP, Delaware
2018 -9/30, Gooseberry Neck, Massachusetts
2019 -9/16, Monomoy NWR, Massachusetts
2019 -9/20, West Berlin, Wisconsin

This year looks like another good year for this vagrant warblers out east and I will update as the year goes on.

Hurricane Dorian impacts on warblers in the Bahamas and in Nova Scotia

Bahama Warbler, Pine lands east, Grand Bahama, Feb 9, 2017

Bahama Warbler, Pine lands east, Grand Bahama, Feb 9, 2017

Olive capped Warbler, Owl Hole Rd, Grand Bahama, Feb 9, 2017

A quick update on the impact of recent Hurricane Dorian on warblers.  First the impact on the northern Bahamas (Grand Bahama and Abaco) looks to be extremely bad with descriptions from the area not giving a lot of hope for several imperiled species.  Specific warblers heavily impacted would include the Bahama Warbler (which is endemic to just Grand Bahama and Abaco), Bahama Yellowthroat (present on both above mentioned islands as well as others further south) and Olive capped Warbler (present on both Grand Bahama and Abaco in the Bahamas and a separate population in western Cuba).  The exact impact on the resident species as well as migrants that had already arrived on the islands is unknown for certain at this point but it does not look to encouraging.  If one were so inclined to assist in helping the birds impacted there you can donate to a fundraiser sponsored by Bird Caribbean at the following link.

Meanwhile well to north in Nova Scotia where the storm eventually made landfall while still at hurricane strength.  The storm brought in a large selection of southern warblers including Cerulean, Kentucky, Prothonotary, Yellow throated, Hooded, Worm eating and even a Swainson's Warbler!  Most warblers were found at Hartlan Point which is just southeast of Halifax or along the Atlantic View Trail in Three Fathoms Harbour (approx 12km east of Halifax).  Below are the numbers and locations for unusual warblers that were moved well north by the storm (totals as of today).  Sadly there were likely many more that perished after being caught up in the storm.

Cerulean Warbler : two at Hartlan Point and one at Atlantic View Trail
Kentucky Warbler:  two at Hartlan Point and one at Atlantic View Trail
Prothonotary Warbler:  one at Sambro Creek (southwest of Halifax), one at Hartlan Point and one at Atlantic View Trail
Yellow throated Warbler:   one at Hartlan Point, one in Three Fathoms Harbour and two on or near Atlantic View Trail and one on an island off coast of New Brunswick near Maine
Hooded Warbler: five at Hartlan Point, one in Halifax, at least three more about 10 km east of Halifax on the southern coast
Worm eating Warbler: three at Hartlan Point and two or three in the area of Three Fathoms Harbour
Swainson's Warbler: one at Hartland Point

I will update the numbers above as the days go on.