End of June warblers

Prairie Warbler, Mount Holyoke Range SP, Granby, MA, Jun 30, 2022

Common Yellowthroat, Mount Holyoke Range SP, Granby, MA, Jun 30, 2022

Brewster's Warbler, Sweet Alice Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Jun 30, 2022

June has come to an end and overall for the month I found a total of 22 species of warblers plus Lawrence's Warbler and Brewster's Warbler hybrids (plus other Blue winged x Golden winged Warbler hybrids).  No big surprises for the month (or spring overall) beyond a variety of hybrids that have continued.  The big miss for the spring into early summer for me continues to be a Hooded Warbler in Hampshire County (I have seen one in Hampden County in late May).  Although fairly rare in the county, as the species is at its northern limit here, I usually can turn up at least one for the year but not this year.  In fact there has been but a single report of an individual on the county line in Holyoke and the bird didn't stay long and was uncooperative for almost everyone that went looking for it.  The last year that I failed to turn one up was back in 2016.  Since 2009 (the first year I had one in the county) I have only missed seeing the species on three previous years.  I suppose there is still a slight chance of turning one up but the chance are slim this late in the year.

Lawrence's Warbler continues and appears to have bred

Lawrence's Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Jun 29, 2022

Lawrence's Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Jun 29, 2022

Lawrence's Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Jun 29, 2022

Lawrence's Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Jun 29, 2022

Blue winged x Golden winged Warbler hybrid, Belchertown, MA, Jun 29, 2022

After not seeing the Lawrence’s Warbler since May 27th I relocated it today in the same area I had it in for most of May (no sign of the second one that apparently was a one day wonder at a different location in town).  I had heard a Blue winged Warbler in the area several days ago but never saw the bird. Subsequent visits to the area failed to turn up anything but I decided to give it another go today. The conditions were perfect with a cool, calm morning that warmed up rapidly with abundant sunshine. My first stop in the area for the morning did not produce the Lawrence’s Warbler but my second stop did indeed turn it up. I initially saw a Blue winged x Golden winged Warbler working its way through a thick tangle carrying food (I suspected the Lawrence’s Warbler was paired with this bird on previous visits). After a bit of looking I turned up the Lawrence’s Warbler which was also carrying food. Over the next half hour I had a few more fleeting glimpses of both birds as they carried food to a presumed nest in a dense thicket.  The Lawrence’s Warbler did not sing at all while I was there but both birds called a few times but were otherwise silent.  I hope to get a glimpse of the offspring in the near future.

Worm eating Warblers along the Mt. Holyoke Range

Worm eating Warbler, Mt. Holyoke Range SP, Granby, MA, Jun 14, 2022

Worm eating Warbler, Mt. Holyoke Range SP, Granby, MA, Jun 14, 2022

Black and White Warbler, Mt. Holyoke Range SP, Granby, MA, Jun 14, 2022

Looking north from Rattlesnake Knob, Mt. Holyoke Range SP, Granby, MA, Jun 14, 2022

With a few hours available this morning I headed to the Mt. Holyoke Range SP with two goals.  The first was to try to locate a Hooded Warbler for Hampshire County for the year and the second to inventory Worm eating Warblers.  Although I struck out on the first goal and found no Hooded Warblers I had much better luck with Worm eating Warblers.  I hiked around four miles coming in from Bachelor Street in Granby and then up to Rattlesnake Knob and then back down.  I ran across at least eight Worm eating Warblers with at least one carrying food.  All but one of the birds was singing so the total number of individuals present is likely nearly double what I counted.  The species is well distributed along the range and I suspect there are probably a couple of dozen pairs present.  

Record setting spring for Mourning Warblers

Mourning Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 19, 2022

Mourning Warbler, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, May 20, 2022

Mourning Warbler, Hadley, MA, May 25, 2022

Now that the migration of Mourning Warblers is over for the spring I will take a quick look at the totals for what was a record setting season for me in regards to the species.  I ended the spring migration season with 19 individuals, including an amazing ten on May 20th alone.  I managed to get recordings of almost all and had all three possible regiolects possible here (Eastern, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland) represented in my recordings plus an odd individual on May 25th that was a hybrid of a Nova Scotia and Eastern regiolect (one of only a few ever noted by the researcher studying these regiolects).  My total of 19 beats my previous best year of 2019 when I had 13 individuals and surpasses an average year when I get perhaps half a dozen.  

First week of June warblers

Prairie Warbler, Ware, MA, Jun 6, 2022

Prairie Warbler, Ware, MA, Jun 6, 2022

Canada Warbler, Pelham, MA, Jun 5, 2022

Canada Warbler, Pelham, MA, Jun 5, 2022

Worm eating Warbler, Mt Holyoke Range SP, Granby, MA, Jun 4, 2022

Blue winged x Golden winged Warbler hybrid, Fog Hollow, Southampton, MA, May 2, 2022

The first week of June is now almost over and with it the tail end of spring warbler migration.  Most every bird around now is a breeder.  During the first week of the month I have found 21 species of warbler but still no Hooded Warbler in Hampshire County, despite a lot of looking.  I will continue to try my best to find the species over the next few weeks as I spend the breeding season conducting various bird surveys.  

Hooded Warbler in Hampden County

Hooded Warbler, Westfield, MA, May 28, 2022

Hooded Warbler, Westfield, MA, May 28, 2022

Hooded Warbler, Westfield, MA, May 28, 2022

Hooded Warbler, Westfield, MA, May 28, 2022

Despite the conditions looking good for late season migration the last two nights and the Birdcast forecast saying the same, the birds apparently had other ideas and neither night resulted in much movement.  I have been spending quite a bit of time lately trying to track down a Hooded Warbler in Hampshire County for the year but have come up empty so far (I have not had the species at all anywhere for the year before today).  The species is at the northern limit of its range in the area but most years at least one shows up (and usually a few).  After a rather wet and mosquito filled walk along Mitch's Way I decided to take advantage of some extra time in the morning I decided to leave the county and make the drive down to Westfield to check on the small breeding population of Hooded Warblers that have been present for several years.  I got there a bit before seven and started walking up the hill.  After a bit of listening and looking I heard a Hooded Warbler singing distantly.  Eventually the bird came in a bit closer and I was able to get some good looks, a few recordings and some identifiable photos (despite the overcast and gloomy conditions).  I walked a bit more to see if I could find more but didn't have any luck and I wanted to get back home before the showers and thunderstorms rolled in.  Although I didn't find any more Hooded Warblers I did have a Black throated Blue Warbler trying its best to make me think it was a Cerulean Warbler.  This is a fairly common problem with Black throated Blue Warblers in the area of central New England and one that is not warned about in field guides.  David Sibley wrote a great article explaining it much better than I can and the article can be found at the following link.  I still have hopes a Hooded Warbler will show up in the county sometime in the near future.

Two Lawrence's Warblers this morning!

 

Lawrence's Warbler, Belchertown, MA, May 27, 2022

Lawrence's Warbler, Belchertown, MA, May 27, 2022

Lawrence's Warbler, Belchertown, MA, May 27, 2022

Lawrence's Warbler, Belchertown, MA, May 27, 2022

Lawrence's Warbler, Belchertown, MA, May 27, 2022

After another fruitless search this morning for a Hooded Warbler in Hampshire County for the year I headed home to take Wilson for a walk.  While we were out on our walk I heard a Blue winged Warbler song and tried to track it down but had no luck.  As the area I heard it in produced a Lawrence's Warbler back in 2012 I decided to head back to the same area after dropping Wilson off.  I try to track down every bird that sounds anything like a Blue winged Warbler as you never know what will be singing and I have found many interesting birds over the years.  I returned with the camera and more time to look and I quickly found the bird...a Lawrence's Warbler!  I managed to get some photos to compare it to the continued Lawrence's Warbler I have had for the last few weeks elsewhere in town.  Very cool to find one in almost the exact same spot I had one ten years ago.   

Lawrence's Warbler, Belchertown, MA, May 7, 2022

Lawrence's Warbler, Belchertown, MA, May 7, 2022

After seeing the first Lawrence's Warbler I headed over to the area where another has been present since at least May 7th and I started searching for it.  It has grown much quieter and harder to find as it has apparently settled down to nest with an apparent Blue winged x Golden winged Warbler hybrid (mainly Blue winged Warbler in appearance except for yellow wing bars).  After a lot of searching and waiting I got a brief glimpse of it but could not get photos of it today.  I have included some photos from previous visits and you can see some subtle difference in the plumage compared to the other individual. I will keep an eye on both Lawrence's Warblers over the next few weeks to see if they stick around and if I'm able to confirm nesting.  This is the first year I have ever had two individual Lawrence's Warbler in the county and to have both on the same day in the same town is really impressive as this hybrid is quite unusual.

I have had the following sightings of Lawrence's Warbler in Hampshire County during my years of birding here:

4/29/09  Covey WMA, Belchertown

5/14/12  Belchertown 

5/13/17  Mineral Hills Conservation Area, Northampton

5/5/20-7/1/20  Belchertown

5/3/21-6/721 Belchertown

5/7/22-?  Belchertown (individual #1)

5/27/22-?  Belchertown (individual #2)

I'm not quite sure why Belchertown is such a hot spot for Lawrence's Warbler but it is nice to have them close to home.  Perhaps there is an unknown Golden winged Warbler nesting nearby with a Blue winged Warbler and producing the various hybrids.  Golden winged Warblers have become so rare in the state they are now a review species and there are typically only a handful of records a year.  The last one in the county was one I found back in 2017 at the very end of May.

Blue winged Warbler, Lawrence's Swamp, Amherst, MA, May 27, 2022

I also ran across a very interesting sounding Blue winged Warbler this morning in Amherst.  The bird was singing a very Golden winged Warbler like song and I had hopes that once I tracked down the bird I would find something beyond a typical Blue winged Warbler but that was not to be the case.  The eBird list has a handful of recordings.