Warblers to end the second week of the month

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Amherst, MA, Oct 14, 2024

Common Yellowthroat, Amherst, MA, Oct 14, 2024

Nashville Warbler, Amherst, MA, Oct 14, 2024

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Amherst, MA, Oct 14, 2024

I ended the last day of the second week of October exploring in Amherst on a cool, damp and occasionally rainy morning looking for warblers.  I managed to track down four species in the gloom in Amherst with the vast majority being Yellow rumped Warblers.  Although far from record breaking I was happy to see that many species given the conditions.  I have not had much of a chance to bird the last few days due to work and other commitments so it was nice to be out today, even if it was less than ideal warbler weather.  The next few days continue to look cool and windy but then there should be a warm up to end the week and continue for at least a few days after that.

More late warblers for the first week of October

Northern Waterthrush, Belchertown, MA, Oct 3, 2024

Chestnut sided Warbler, Amherst, MA, Oct 3, 2024

Ovenbird, Belchertown, MA, Oct 6, 2024

After finding 14 species of warblers to start October I continued to search and find a number of late species for the month when I was not working.  

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 3, 2024

Magnolia Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 3, 2024

Black throated Green Warbler, Amherst, MA, Oct 3, 2024

Chestnut sided Warbler, Amherst, MA, Oct 3, 2024

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Amherst, MA, Oct 3, 2024

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Amherst, MA, Oct 3, 2024

Northern Waterthrush, Belchertown, MA, Oct 3, 2024

Ovenbird, Belchertown, MA, Oct 3, 2024

After getting out of work on the morning of the 3rd I tried Arcadia but with little decent habitat it was rather slow.  I then headed to a spot in Amherst that was productive on the first and I had some good luck there again with a late Chestnut sided Warbler among a half dozen species.  After about an hour and half I headed to Belchertown where I had two more late species with a Northern Waterthrush and an Ovenbird.  Overall for the morning I had eleven species.

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', UMASS, Amherst, MA, Oct 5, 2024

Common Yellowthroat, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Oct 5, 2024

Black and White Warbler, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Oct 5, 2024

Common Yellowthroat, Amherst, MA, Oct 5, 2024

Blackpoll Warbler, Amherst, MA, Oct 5, 2024

I had to work on Friday but got out to bird again on Saturday morning and I started off at UMASS where I had five species of warbler.  I then moved on to a spot in Amherst where I once again had five species of warblers.  I ended the morning with seven species of warblers and I'm sure I could have got more if I was not so exhausted from work and could visit a few other areas.

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Amherst, MA, Oct 6, 2024

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Amherst, MA, Oct 6, 2024

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Amherst, MA, Oct 6, 2024

American Redstart, Amherst, MA, Oct 6, 2024

Common Yellowthroat, Amherst, MA, Oct 6, 2024

Ovenbird, Belchertown, MA, Oct 6, 2024

Wilson out for a walk, Belchertown, MA, Oct 6, 2024

The night of Saturday into Sunday morning was a big night of migration (the largest flight in overall numbers all fall according to birdcast).  Although the diversity was down the numbers of Yellow rumped Warblers was impressive with dozens in most spots.  I also turned up a late Ovenbird and ended the morning with just half a dozen species of warblers.  I started off the morning in Amherst and then worked my way back toward home.  Although it was a cold start in the low 40's it eventually warmed up and day featured wall to wall sunshine.

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Belchertown Land Trust Trail, Belchertown, MA, Oct 7, 2024

Common Yellowthroat, Belchertown Land Trust Trail, Belchertown, MA, Oct 7, 2024

The week ended on a rainy note to start the day.  I was out before sunrise to find breezy conditions and occasional showers that became a steady rain for a few hours.  My early morning stops were not too productive at all.  Once the rain stopped I headed out again and had a bit more luck with warblers with the primary species being Yellow rumped Warblers.  I ended the day with just four species of warblers with no new ones for the month.  So far I have found 17 species of warblers for the month and the chances of turning up more species rapidly decreases as the month goes on.

14 warbler species to start off the month of October

 

Prairie Warbler, Amherst, MA, Oct 1, 2024

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Amherst, MA, Oct 1, 2024

Common Yellowthroat, Amherst, MA, Oct 1, 2024

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Amherst, MA, Oct 1, 2024

Northern Parula, Amherst, MA, Oct 1, 2024

Magnolia Warbler, Amherst, MA, Oct 1, 2024

Black throated Green Warbler, Amherst, MA, Oct 1, 2024

Blackpoll Warbler, Amherst, MA, Oct 1, 2024

Black and White Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Oct 1, 2024

Ovenbird, Belchertown, MA, Oct 1, 2024

Pine Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Oct 1, 2024

I was pleasantly surprised to have a fantastic start to October for warblers with a total of 14 species at my two stops this morning (I managed to get at least marginal photos of eleven of the species).  It was a surprise as the end of September had below typical diversity of warblers compared to a typical year.  I specifically headed out this morning with the intention of trying to track down as many warblers as I could.  I decided to start my morning in Amherst and despite a persistent fog I managed to find ten species, with the most unusual being two late Prairie Warblers.  I also had above typical counts for a few other species including Common Yellowthroat and Northern Parula.  After a little over two hours I headed to my second stop which was in Belchertown to look for some other species and try to get out of the fog.  Although I didn't have enough time to cover the area as much as I wanted I still got four new warbler species for the morning and the area was fog free (although a bit breezy).  It was certainly a great start to the new month for me and there are still a few more species I should be able to turn up with a bit more effort.

End of September

Blackpoll Warbler, Reed Conservation Area, Belchertown, MA, Sep 25, 2024

Black throated Blue Warbler, Reed Conservation Area, Belchertown, MA, Sep 25, 2024

Black throated Green Warbler, Ware, MA, Sep 28, 2024

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Rail trail, Ware, MA, Sep 28, 2024

Northern Parula, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Sep 29, 2024

Pine Warbler, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Sep 29, 2024

Common Yellowthroat, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Sep 29, 2024

Prairie Warbler, Wentworth Farm Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Sep 30, 2024

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Wentworth Farm Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Sep 30, 2024

The month of September has now come to an end and overall it was rather lackluster with below average numbers of quite a few species.  I ended the month with 26 species of warblers.  I attributed a lot of the low counts to an early migration season for warblers and great migration conditions for almost the entire month, which likely resulted in many birds flying by without stopping (this may explain having my best number of species I ever had for an August here, also with 26 species).  I had my lowest count of Connecticut Warblers in years with just one individual for me (and just a couple others reported in the county).  There are low numbers of late season lingering warblers around and now the majority of warblers around are Yellow rumped Warblers with decent numbers of Blackpoll Warblers, Palm Warblers and Common Yellowthroats plus Northern Parula (who put on a nice end of month show).  Many other species seem to have already moved on.  It will be tough to get a big count of species for October but I will be out trying to track down some stuff.

A bit of an influx of migrants

Northern Parula, Belchertown, MA, Sep 23, 2024

Blackpoll Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 23, 2024

Pine Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 23, 2024

Black and White Warbler, Reed Conservation Area, Belchertown, MA, Sep 23, 2024

Blackpoll Warbler, Reed Conservation Area, Belchertown, MA, Sep 23, 2024

Black throated Blue Warbler, Reed Conservation Area, Belchertown, MA, Sep 23, 2024

After a late night out I was not out as early as typical but I was still out relatively early but I decided to stay in the immediate area of town.  It was another cool morning with some migration overnight and I decided to head to Winsor Dam first in the off chance something unusual was around before I started looking for warblers as the morning sun warmed stuff up.  I made a good decision and found a Common Tern at the dam...a nice start to the morning even if it is not a warbler!  I then tried a spot in Quabbin Park and didn't find too much there so headed a bit further north and had some great luck at the Reed Conservation Area, where I had eight species including a good showing of both Northern Parula and Blackpoll Warbler.  I hit a few more spots in Belchertown and added a few more species and brought my total for the day to eleven species.  Given the lackluster showing of migrants, days with double digit counts are numbered for sure.  More on the migration season a bit later but overall it seems to have been early with many species and with great migration conditions for the past few weeks a lot of birds just sailed right on by with nothing to stop them...good for birds, bad for birders.