Banding a Cerulean Warbler this morning

Cerulean Warbler just prior to banding, Quabbin Park, MA, May 12, 2026

Banding process with a Cerulean Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 12, 2026

As part of an ongoing, multistate study of Cerulean Warblers a couple biologist were on site to try capture and band the Cerulean Warblers I have been watching at Quabbin.  Cerulean Warblers at the very limit of their range in Massachusetts with just a few pairs scattered around the area.  After a little of birding in the morning I caught up with the biologists a little before nine and immediately a Cerulean Warbler was singing nearby.  I had heard at least two in the area when I checked earlier in the morning.  I thought it would be easy to capture and band the very vocal of the two Cerulean Warblers around for the morning and they captured him fairly quickly in a mist net.  He was quickly banded, weighed, measured and had a measurements made before I was able to release him back into the trees to try to attract a mate.  He flew out of my hand and sang a song in flight, landed, sang again and then caught an insect and returned to the tops of the trees.  Always a treat to see a warbler up close and remember this tiny guy has made the trip down and back to South America at least once and found his way here.  I will be keeping an eye on these Cerulean Warblers throughout the breeding and season and hopefully they will nest successfully again.

Three Cerulean Warblers at Quabbin Park on a rainy, cool morning

Cerulean Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 9, 2026

Cerulean Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 9, 2026

Cerulean Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 9, 2026

Cerulean Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 9, 2026

Cerulean Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 9, 2026

Today was a rainy, raw day and the conditions were not too pleasant to be out in.  There were lulls between heavier showers with just a bit of drizzle and I tried to be out of the car when the lulls occurred.  The reward for the cold effort was seeing at least three singing male Cerulean Warblers at Quabbin Park!  I first found at least one (possibly two) on May 7th and had one in the same area yesterday.  Today I was able to confirm at least three individuals in distinct locations and all three remained in their chosen locations as I bounced between the spots.  None of the birds had bands so none are the one banded last year on site.  In addition I had a Black throated Blue Warbler singing a very Cerulean Warbler like song at another spot.  A productive morning despite the rainy, cool weather with a total of 15 species of warblers just in the park.

Bay breasted Warbler today becomes warbler species #44 for the year, some unusual Blue winged Warblers and Cerulean Warblers come back to Quabbin

Blue winged Warbler with black forehead, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 8, 2026

Blue winged Warbler with black forehead, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 8, 2026

Blue winged Warbler with black forehead, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 8, 2026

Northern Waterthrush, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 8, 2026

Northern Waterthrush, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 8, 2026

Blue winged Warbler, KC Trail, Amherst, MA, May 8, 2026

Cerulean Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 8, 2026

Nashville Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 8, 2026

Today was a bit cool with temps in the mid 30's to start the day and highs that stayed in the 50's with a northerly breeze and overcast conditions.  Needless to say migration was mostly non existent overnight.  No matter the conditions it is early May and I will be out looking for stuff and today was no different.  I started out in Amherst with stops at Wildwood Cemetery, UMASS (multiple spots with Orchard Hill being depressing with more clearing of trees...a sad shadow of a previously great birding spot), the rail trail and a few other places before I headed back to Quabbin Park before returning home to get Wilson.  The notables for the day included warbler species #44 for me in the US this year with a Bay breasted Warbler while out walking Wilson, the continued Blue winged Warbler with a black forehead on the rail trail and a continued Cerulean Warbler at Quabbin Park (more on the Cerulean Warbler below).

Cerulean Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 8, 2026

Cerulean Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 8, 2026

Cerulean Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 8, 2026

American Redstart, Quabbin Park, MA, May 7, 2026

Black and White Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 7, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Quabbin Park, MA, May 7, 2026

Blue winged Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 7, 2026

Northern Yellow Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 7, 2026

Ovenbird, Quabbin Park, MA, May 7, 2026

Blue winged Warbler, Ware, MA, May 7, 2026

Prairie Warbler, Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, May 7, 2026

Yesterday started with some light rain just before dawn that thankfully quickly moved out.  Eventually it got sunnier and breezy.  Migration was stagnant overnight so I thought it would be a good time to hit some areas I have not as much as I would have liked the previous couple mornings when overnight migration was so good.  I stayed in the Ware and Quabbin Park area and I had some interesting sightings.  The first was an odd singing Blue winged Warbler (recordings and video in this list).  It would sing either a three or four part song, sounding a bit like a Golden winged Warbler.  I tracked it down and physically it looked exactly like a Blue winged Warbler should.  I have seen this multiple times before with Blue winged Warblers and most look like typical Blue winged Warblers.  The other big sighting was the return of at least one and possibly two Cerulean Warblers to Quabbin Park where they have started nesting again in the last few years.  The bird I did get to see did not have any bands (one was banded onsite as part of a Cerulean Warbler study last June and I got to assist...link here banding a Cerulean Warbler).  I have reached out to the biologist conducting the study and hopefully they will attempt to band the new male next week.  I ended the morning with another 20 warbler day.

Unusually plumaged Blue Winged Warbler plus two new warblers for the county this year

Blue winged Warbler with black forehead, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 6, 2026

Blue winged Warbler with black forehead, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 6, 2026

Blue winged Warbler with black forehead, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 6, 2026

Brewster's Warbler, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 6, 2026

Magnolia Warbler hover hunting, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 6, 2026

Wilson's Warbler, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 6, 2026

Black and White Warbler, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 6, 2026

Prairie Warbler, Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, May 6, 2026

Chestnut sided Warbler, Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, May 6, 2026

Blue winged Warbler getting harassed by Ruby throated Hummingbird, Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, May 6, 2026

After a banner day of birding yesterday that produced both Hooded Warbler and Canada Warbler for me for the year in the US today was slightly less productive but I still managed to find some good stuff including three new species for me in Hampshire County this year with Tennessee Warbler, Wilson's Warbler and Cape May Warbler.  I also relocated the Brewster's Warbler I originally found a couple days ago in Amherst plus Hooded Warbler in Hadley (I was once again unable to catch a glimspe but it did sing a bit)  One of the more interesting birds of the morning was a Blue winged Warbler with a black forehead.  I originally saw the individual a few days ago but thought the dark of the forehead was from being wet.  Better looks today seems to show an individual with black on the forehead and not some wetness on the feathers.  Beyond that plumage oddity the bird looked fine for a normal Blue winged Warbler.  After getting home and taking Wilson for a walk I headed over to Herman Covey WMA to check on some of the managed areas and had great counts of Prairie Warblers and Blue winged Warblers (plus loads of ticks...they are always bad there).  In addition I got to see some interesting behaviors with the warblers including watching a Magnolia Warbler hover hunt and a Blue winged Warbler getting harassed by a Ruby throated Hummingbird.  Today produced my first 20 warbler species day for the spring.

Hooded Warbler and Canada Warbler today add two more species for my US big warbler year

Black throated Blue Warbler, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 5, 2026

Black and White Warbler, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 5, 2026

American Redstart, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, May 5, 2026

Chestnut sided Warbler, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, May 5, 2026

Blue winged Warbler, Belchertown Land Trust Trail, Belchertown, MA, May 5, 2026

The day held lots of promise with the best night of migration in quite some time with south winds that were fairly strong and covered a large portion of the eastern US.  I was guiding for a visiting birder from India again today and we kept our plans fluid so we could follow up on any rare bird reports that came in during the morning.  I got a little birding in before meeting up for the morning of guiding and I could tell there had indeed been a good influx of species.  Our first stop was along the rail trail in Amherst and the forecasted strong winds were still light and the amount of bird song was high with multiple warblers even from the parking lot.  Not long after starting our walk I got a text letting me know of a Hooded Warbler in Hadley.  I decided to stick with covering the rail trail to see what else we could find before possibly heading south to try for the Hooded Warbler.  As we walked along the rail trail we turned up more and more warblers with a few showing quite well.  The best warbler for me on the walk was a Canada Warbler that sang from a deep tangle and as typical for the species, did not show at all.  Nonetheless it added another species for me for my big warbler year in the US and became species #42.  I will certainly catch up with more as the migration season continues on.  After about an hour and half along the rail trail and 14 species of warblers we headed south to try for the Hooded Warbler at Mitch's Way.  We made it through the traffic fairly easily and arrived just before eight and started walking in to the spot for the warbler.  Along the way we had lots of birds singing and calling including multiple species of warblers.  We made it to the spot and found Joe, Steve and Leslie on site and within a few minutes we heard the Hooded Warbler singing its classic song. Sometimes it sounded close and other times a distance away and it would go quiet for a time and then be heard again.  We tried to get looks at it but it never showed for us.  The Hooded Warbler became warbler species #43 for me in the US this year.  There were lots of other warblers around and the variety of song reminded me again why I love this area in spring (not so much in the colder months!).  We walked a bit further and ran across Ted (the finder of the Hooded Warbler) before returning to the Hooded Warbler spot.  The Hooded Warbler was still present and singing a non classic song and it yet again defied our efforts to get looks at it.  I had to settle on getting a few recordings before we headed out for the morning.  Mitch's Way produced an impressive 19 species of warbler for us and the morning ended with 20 species of warblers overall.  Sadly I didn't get pictures of either new warbler species for the year but I will hopefully get more chances in the near future.

Northern Parula, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 5, 2026

Northern Parula, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 5, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Home, Belchertown, MA, May 5, 2026

American Redstart, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 5, 2026

Black and White Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 5, 2026

The water feature also produced three warbler species for the day with a capture of a Northern Parula, Black and White Warbler and American Redstart.  A Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle' also showed back up today.  This makes three warbler species so far at the water feature...a bit behind the total of ten warbler I have had in the yard for the year.