Volcanic eruption on Saint Vincent and its impact on the endemic Whistling Warbler

A short post about an ongoing volcanic eruption on the small Caribbean Island of Saint Vincent.  The La Soufriere volcano started erupting on April 9th and has continued to have explosive eruptions daily since with ash covering most of the island and spreading to nearby islands including Barbados and Saint Lucia (as well as others).  The volcano is located on the northern part of the island and is the highest point on the island.  Before this eruption the last time it erupted was 1979 (it has had five recorded explosive eruptions since 1718).  The island is home to two endemic bird species with the unique Whistling Warbler being the one I'm most interested in (with the other endemic being the St. Vincent Parrot).  The Whistling Warbler is one of only five species of wood warbler outside of South America I have not yet seen.  The warbler inhabits humid foothills and higher elevation forests and is considered endangered within its very limited range due to habitat loss, volcanic activity and hurricanes.  The latest data I could find put the total population at between 3000-5000 individuals and the latest eruption will certainly hit that number hard as ash covers the entire island.    

I had plans to make it down to there this past winter but the pandemic put a stop to those plans and I then had thought about it for this coming winter assuming the stringent travel restrictions there and in Dominica eased up a bit.  Now it appears my chances of getting to St. Vincent anytime in the near future is quite low.  Hopefully the volcano will become less active soon and the birds will pull through.

Early April warblers

Louisiana Waterthrush, Hadley Reservoir, Hadley, MA, Apr 7, 2021

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 7, 2021

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 2, 2021

The first week of April has produced four species of warblers so far with a few early arriving Louisiana Waterthrushes today plus loads of Pine Warblers and the first arrivals of Palm Warblers and Yellow rumped Warblers since the beginning of the month.  The Pine Warblers have arrived in large numbers over the last couple days as migration conditions have slowly improved.  Overall the weather has been quite nice for early April with lots of sun, above normal temperatures (highs in the 60's for the last few days).  The winds have finally started changing from northerly to a more southerly flow.   There should be a noticeable increase in both Palm Warblers and Yellow rumped Warblers over the next several days (and always the chance of an overshoot rarity).

Warblers on a quick Florida trip

Common Yellowthroat, Pelican Island NWR, Vero Beach, FL, Mar 28, 2021

Prairie Warbler, Maritime Hammock Sanctuary, Melbourne Beach, FL, Mar 27, 2021

Ovenbird, Green Cay Wetlands, Boynton Beach, FL, Mar 26, 2021

Palm Warbler, Green Cay Wetlands, Boynton Beach, FL, Mar 26, 2021

Black and White Warbler, Green Cay Wetlands, Boynton Beach, FL, Mar 26, 2021

Black throated Blue Warbler, Green Cay Wetlands, Boynton Beach, FL, Mar 26, 2021

 Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Maritime Hammock Sanctuary, Melbourne Beach, FL, Mar 29, 2021

We managed to get in a short getaway to Florida from March 25th-31st with gorgeous weather but sadly not tons of warblers.  Nonetheless I didn't expect to get away at all this winter season due to the ongoing Covid 19 pandemic but after we both got vaccinated and some travel restrictions were relaxed (at least for travel in the US) we got a trip in.   It was a short trip that had us flying into West Palm Beach were we spent one night and then up to Melbourne Beach for four nights and then Orlando for a night.  Overall the warblers were quite sparse.  It appears that many of the wintering species (especially Yellow rumped Warblers and Palm Warblers) already headed north and incoming migrants had not really arrived yet.  The most numerous species among the 10 species of warbler seen in total turned out to be Northern Parula.  

Pine Warbler at the end of the month and an update on a few overwintering warblers in the area

Pine Warbler, Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, Mar 31, 2021

Pine Warbler, Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, Mar 31, 2021

Pine Warblers finally showed up around here starting a few days ago but I have been out of the area on a short trip down to Florida (more on that trip in a later post).  I spent quite a bit of time on Monday and Tuesday last week before I left looking for them without success despite what appeared to be great early season migration conditions.  I arrived home in the mid afternoon today and made a couple quick stops and turned up a singing male at Covey WMA just a few minutes away from the house.  I have seen a few reports of Palm Warblers in the area too as well as a possible Louisiana Waterthrush.  

A quick update on the status of the overwintering warblers in the immediate area.  The Tennessee Warbler in Athol amazingly made it through the entire winter (thanks to Jeff and Sherry feeding it a steady diet of crickets, split up sunflower hearts and bananas).  It is truly incredible for this species to make it through a winter in the interior of New England.  The Common Yellowthroat at a greenhouse in Deerfield left the greenhouse late in February and has not been seen since.  The Yellow throated Warbler in Lancaster was last reported in mid February.

Yellow rumped Warbler continues into March

I finally had some free time and the weather was somewhat cooperative for me to try to catch up with the over wintering Yellow rumped Warbler that has been seen on and off in Hadley.  Oddly this has been the only somewhat regular overwintering warbler in Hampshire County this year unlike the last couple years which has featured multiple birds at multiple locations.  It has mainly been in the area near a small wastewater treatment plant but has not been nearly as regular as the overwintering Eastern Phoebe that has been at the same location.  I walked for quite a bit before I had the warbler flyover calling and heading into an area that I could not get close to and I was never able to see it beyond the flyover so no luck with getting a photo this morning.  I will certainly try again at some point over the next several days but without a lot of extra time due to work I probably won't get a long opportunity until the weekend or sometime next week.  

A Common Yellowthroat in Deerfield in February

Common Yellowthroat, Deerfield, MA, Feb 3, 2021

Common Yellowthroat, Deerfield, MA, Feb 3, 2021

Common Yellowthroat, Deerfield, MA, Feb 3, 2021

Common Yellowthroat, Deerfield, MA, Feb 3, 2021

I recently heard about a warbler overwintering at a private greenhouse in Deerfield and followed up with one of the workers at the location to get some details.  He described the bird as a Common Yellowthroat.  I secured permission to stop by at some point and document the occurrence of the bird.  I decided to take a ride up to the location after getting out of work this morning.  Once I arrived I caught up with Trystan and he led me right away to the greenhouse.  The greenhouse is used to grow a variety of plants and they cannot use insecticides so the presence of an insectivore bird has been very welcome addition to the staff and Trystan stated the numbers of insects causing issues for the plants is way down this winter thanks to the bird.  Apparently the bird first appeared in the greenhouse late in the fall and has stayed put ever since.  It took several minutes of looking but eventually the bird popped in to view on occasion as it fed quite actively and hardly ever stayed still for long.  I managed to get a few photos of the bird as it worked its way through the jungle like tangle of plants.  The bird is free to leave via a louvered area that is opened occasionally but seems quite content to ride out the winter in the warmth of the greenhouse with a ready supply of insects, water, cover and a lack of predators (not to mention the warmth of the greenhouse during the cold New England winter).  The species typically winters in the southern part of the United States but can occasionally linger a bit into early winter (I have had a single record of the species in mid January in Amherst in 2019) but otherwise have never had the species in the heart of the winter around here.

Yellow rumped Warbler to start a snowy February

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Hadley DPW, Hadley, MA, Feb 1, 2021

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Hadley DPW, Hadley, MA, Feb 1, 2021

With the forecast for snow starting mid to late morning and continuing overnight into Tuesday with perhaps a foot of snow I had plans to head out at daybreak today to try to locate a warbler for February in Hampshire County (usually the toughest month to find any warbler species in the area).  I was surprised to wake up to a couple of inches of snow on the ground already.  Thankfully the snow slowed down to just flurries a bit after eight so I took the opportunity to head over to Hadley to try to find the Yellow rumped Warbler that has been around intermittently in the area of the DPW.  I arrived in the area a little after 8:30 and found the wind picking up and the prospect of finding the warbler diminishing.  Nonetheless I figured I would give it a try before the snow picked back up once again.  I walked the area nearby and thought I heard a call a few times but the wind made it difficult to be certain.  On my way out I got lucky and heard the warbler calling nearby.  I could hear it but could not see it initially but it popped out of a dense hedge and flew over my head into a large tree before disappearing into the DPW yard (which is strictly off limits).  I managed to get a couple marginal photos of the bird before it disappeared.  Seeing the warbler today added to my streak of seeing at least one warbler species every month in Hampshire County to an amazing 46th months.