October warblers

Cape May Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 3, 2019

Northern Waterthrush, Belchertown Land Trust Trail, Belchertown, MA, Oct 3, 2019

American Redstart, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 3, 2019

Nashville Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 5, 2019

Black throated Green Warbler, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Oct 6, 2019

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 16, 2019

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 16, 2019

It was a good month for warblers, especially during the first couple weeks of the month.  I found a total of 18 species for the month with highlights including a late Northern Waterthrush, an Orange crowned Warbler (a tough species to find in the county), a Connecticut Warbler (at least my ninth for the fall), several Cape May Warblers, Bay breasted Warbler and loads of Yellow rumped Warblers.  The total of 18 species might be the highest October total I have ever had in Hampshire County but I will have to crunch some data to be sure on that.

Four species of warbler today

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Oct 24, 2019

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Hadley, MA, Oct 24, 2019

Nothing earth scattering but I managed to find a total of four species of warbler today with three of those found at the Honey Pot in Hadley including a late Common Yellowthroat calling from a dense thicket.  The Honey Pot also produced 40+ Yellow rumped Warblers and at least two Palm Warblers.  The fourth species of the day was a late Pine Warbler at Covey WMA.  The numbers and diversity of warblers will continue to fall as the end of October rapidly approaches.  I'm hopeful all the checking of the still fairly large Yellow rumped Warbler flocks will turn up a rarity at some point.

My second highest count of Yellow rumped Warblers in Hampshire County today

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 14, 2019

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 14, 2019

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 14, 2019

Common Yellowthroat, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 14, 2019

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 13, 2019

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 13, 2019

After stopping at Arcadia yesterday after work and finding loads of Yellow rumped Warblers I decided to spend the morning back at Arcadia trying to see exactly how many were around. I was impressed to come up with a total of at least 243 individuals which is my second highest total ever for the species at a single location in Hampshire County. My only higher record was on October 18, 2005 when I had at least 944 at Quabbin Park (mostly at Winsor Dam) following a heavy rain shower just before dawn that forced lots of birds down. The vast majority of the warblers were seen as the remains of a cornfield in which they were feeding was mowed down and they moved out of the field into a hedgerow I was walking along. Besides the Yellow rumped Warblers I had three Common Yellowthroats and several Palm Warblers. A walk late in the morning at Cadwell Forest produced a total of six warbler species there including a late Black and White Warbler in among a mixed flock. Overall for the day I found a total of seven species of warbler, which is fairly good for the middle of October.

13 species of warblers at Arcadia this morning! (plus a 14th species at home)

Common Yellowthroat, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 8, 2019

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 8, 2019

Magnolia Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 8, 2019

Northern Parula, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 8, 2019

Black throated Green Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 8, 2019

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 8, 2019

Tennessee Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 8, 2019

Tennessee Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 8, 2019

Cape May Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 8, 2019

Nashville Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 8, 2019

I was very pleasantly surprised to find a total of 13 species of warblers at Arcadia this morning which is a very high total for so late in the season.  The species seen included two Tennessee Warblers (including one that gave a partial song a few times...very odd for fall), my first Orange crowned Warbler of the fall, three Nashville Warblers, oddly just one Common Yellowthroat, an American Redstart (my latest record for the county by two days), a Cape May Warbler (possibly two), two Northern Parula, a Magnolia Warbler, a Blackpoll Warbler, Palm Warblers (both subspecies were seen but yellow was the most prevalent), a Pine Warbler, at least 112 Yellow rumped Warblers (I checked every one I could to try to turn up an Audubon's subspecies but no luck) and three Black throated Green Warblers.  Several of the above mentioned species are getting fairly late so finding them was great...about the only other likely warbler still around that I didn't have was a Black throated Blue Warbler but the habitat I was in usually doesn't hold them.  A truly great morning despite the gloomy conditions.  In the late afternoon at home I had a small mixed flock move through and added another late warbler species for the day with a Black and White Warbler.

Warblers for the first week of October

Common Yellowthroat, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 1, 2019

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 1, 2019

Palm Warbler 'western', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 1, 2019

Tennessee Warbler, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Oct 1, 2019

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 3, 2019

 American Redstart, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 3, 2019

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 3, 2019

Cape May Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 3, 2019

Northern Waterthrush, Belchertown Land Trust Trail, Belchertown,, MA, Oct 3, 2019

 Nashville Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 5, 2019

Northern Parula, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Oct 6, 2019

Black throated Green Warbler, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Oct 6, 2019

Blackpoll Warbler, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Oct 6, 2019

Pine Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 7, 2019

Although there was a little warmth at the very beginning of the month it was quickly replaced by much cooler temperatures that really moved a lot of warbler diversity off to the south.  Nonetheless I found several lingering species including a Northern Waterthrush, a Connecticut Warbler, Cape May Warbler (four individuals) and Bay breasted Warbler (two individuals) as well as other species bringing the week total for warbler species to 16.  The big numbers of both subspecies of Palm Warblers and Yellow rumped Warblers arrived to start off the the month.

September warblers

Ovenbird, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Sep 6, 2019

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

Black and White Warbler, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Sep 20, 2019

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

 Connecticut Warbler, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Sep 28, 2019

 Common Yellowthroat, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Sep 18, 2019

American Redstart, Sweet Alice Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Sep 6, 2019

Northern Parula, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Sep 28, 2019

Magnolia Warbler, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Sep 6, 2019

Blackburnian Warbler, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Sep 7, 2019

Chestnut sided Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Sep 5, 2019

Blackpoll Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 27, 2019

Black throated Blue Warbler, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Sep 7, 2019

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

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 27, 2019

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

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

Canada Warbler, Sweet Alice Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Sep 6, 2019

Wilson's Warbler, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Sep 6, 2019

September has now come to an end and with it the peak of fall warbler migration.  There will certainly still be warblers to be found but the big diversity is behind us (until next spring anyway!).  Overall for the month I found a total of 27 species in Hampshire County with the highlights being a Worm eating Warbler early in the month (an unusual species in fall here), a total of seven (maybe eight) Connecticut Warblers and decent numbers of a few species including Northern Parula, American Redstart, Tennessee Warbler and Cape May Warblers.  The numbers of Bay breasted Warblers were much lower than expected given the huge numbers moving through this spring..it will be interesting to see if they just used a different migration route in the fall and the spring numbers next year will be above average once again.

Blackpoll Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, Sep 29, 2019

The water feature at the house has been quiet for most of the fall migration so far but I did have a Blackpoll Warbler make a stop at the end of the month.