Very late Northern Parula today and other lingering species as our stretch of sunny days continues

Northern Parula, Belchertown, MA, Oct 24, 2026

Northern Parula, Belchertown, MA, Oct 24, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Oct 24, 2026

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Oct 24, 2026

Orange crowned Warbler, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Oct 23, 2026

Orange crowned Warbler, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Oct 23, 2026

Orange crowned Warbler, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Oct 23, 2026

Orange crowned Warbler, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Oct 23, 2026

Orange crowned Warbler, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Oct 23, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Oct 23, 2026

I had my latest fall record for Hampshire County ever for Northern Parula today in Belchertown with a stunning male in among some Ruby crowned Kinglets.  It beats my previous record late date for the species by an amazing ten days (previous late date October 14..in both 2017 and 2020).  Always fun to set a new late date for a warbler.  We are now at the point where the number of expected warblers are down to just four species and even those are rapidly becoming less common.  We have continued with sunny days and the breezy conditions finally let up for this morning, although that meant even colder temps to start the day (upper 20's today).  I have been out mainly trying to track down warblers and the reward today was the parula.  Yesterday I had a slightly late Common Yellowthroat as well as two Orange crowned Warblers travelling together (Orange crowned Warblers can be tough to find sometimes so getting two and having one being very cooperative for photos was very nice and made up for not getting any photos of the yellowthroat).  Our sunny and seasonable (to slightly warmer than seasonal) weather looks to continue through most of the next week and with any luck I will add more late season warblers.

Late Cape May with odd bicolored bill

Cape May Warbler with unusual bicolored bill, Belchertown, MA, Oct 19, 2026

Cape May Warbler with unusual bicolored bill, Belchertown, MA, Oct 19, 2026

Cape May Warbler with unusual bicolored bill, Belchertown, MA, Oct 19, 2026

Cape May Warbler with unusual bicolored bill, Belchertown, MA, Oct 19, 2026

Cape May Warbler with unusual bicolored bill, Belchertown, MA, Oct 19, 2026

Cape May Warbler with unusual bicolored bill, Belchertown, MA, Oct 19, 2026

Cape May Warbler with unusual bicolored bill, Belchertown, MA, Oct 19, 2026

Cape May Warbler with unusual bicolored bill, Belchertown, MA, Oct 19, 2026

Cape May Warbler with unusual bicolored bill, Belchertown, MA, Oct 19, 2026

 

Cape May Warbler with unusual bicolored bill, Belchertown, MA, Oct 19, 2026

While out this morning on another cold, calm morning I ran across a very unique Cape May Warbler in Belchertown with a bicolored (yellow and black) bill.  It is not something I have seen before with the species and I was unable to locate anything online regarding this abnormality.  Any Cape May Warbler still around now is late but having an individual with some unique characteristic made the sighting even better.

Terrible year for Connecticut Warblers here

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Belchertown, MA, Oct 15, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Belchertown, MA, Oct 15, 2026

Cape May Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Oct 14, 2026

Blackpoll Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Oct 14, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Belchertown, MA, Oct 14, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Belchertown, MA, Oct 14, 2026

Black throated Green Warbler, Amherst, MA, Oct 14, 2026

Now that mid October has arrived the chances of finding any more Connecticut Warblers is extremely low (my latest date ever for the species is October 15th back in 2021, which is also the late date overall for the area...most have moved through by the very beginning of October).  This year is probably one of the worst years I have ever had for the species in western Massachusetts and there are probably a few reasons for the dismal showing of the species this year.  First of all during the typical peak of migration for the species through the area (mid September onward through the third week of the month) we had a sustained period of strong northeast winds that lasted over a week with rain on multiple days at the end of the period.  The winds certainly pushed the warblers through and trying to find any of these skulking birds when the wind is strong is tough to say the least.  I also did not have the drive to be out as much as usually with the loss of my best buddy Wilson right before the typical arrival of Connecticut Warblers into the area.  I managed to have a fleeting glimpse of just one individual on the 21st and didn't find another one.  There were very few reports from others in western Massachusetts so I think overall it was just a bad year for finding them in the area.  Fall migration continues to wind down and warbler diversity continues to drop.  At least we have had some fairly comfortable weather lately with the high yesterday making it into the mid 70's...very nice for the middle of October!  Today was a bit cooler and much breezier so not as much luck with warblers today.  This coming weekend looks to bring a big cool down with a few frosty mornings.   I also presented my latest program with the Hampshire Bird Club on Tuesday evening with the topic being "Warblers of Mexico"...eventually I will put up a link to a recording of the program.

October Big Day warblers yesterday (plus more from today)

Magnolia Warbler, Amherst, MA, Oct 10, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Amherst, MA, Oct 10, 2026

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Amherst, MA, Oct 10, 2026

Common Yellowthroat, Amherst, MA, Oct 10, 2026

Nashville Warbler, Belchertown Land Trust Trail, Belchertown, MA, Oct 10, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Belchertown Land Trust Trail, Belchertown, MA, Oct 10, 2026

Black throated Green Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Oct 10, 2026

Blackpoll Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Oct 10, 2026

Cape May Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Oct 11, 2026

Black throated Green Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Oct 11, 2026

Northern Parula, Silvio Conte NWR -Fort River, Hadley, MA, Oct 11, 2026

Common Yellowthroat, Silvio Conte NWR -Fort River, Hadley, MA, Oct 11, 2026

I took part in the annual October Big Day yesterday and I kept my focus on warblers as I explored a number of areas during a large portion of the morning.  It started off quite cool with temps in the 40's with thankfully no wind and abundant sunshine.  It warmed throughout the morning and eventually the temps made it to the low 60's by the afternoon.  I found a total of ten species of warblers for my effort including a couple late species including Magnolia Warbler and Cape May Warbler.  The most common species by far was Yellow rumped Warbler with multiple areas hosting double digit counts of the species.  Today I headed out once again on a cold morning although this time there was little sun as clouds and eventually rain moved in from the remnants of Hurricane Isaias.  I had nine species today including a few I missed yesterday, with one new one being another late species (Northern Parula).  The last two days I found a total of 13 species of warblers.  Trying to get double digit counts going forward will continue to become more and more difficult.  The only upside is later fall brings the chance of a vagrant warbler from the west showing up...far from a guarantee but at least it keeps one looking as the slide toward winter continues.

 

First frost of fall but still warblers around to end the first week of October

Tennessee Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 7, 2026

Tennessee Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 7, 2026

Tennessee Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 7, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 7, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 7, 2026

Black and White Warbler, Arcadia, Easthampton, MA, Oct 7, 2026

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 7, 2026

Black throated Green Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Oct 7, 2026

Black throated Green Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Oct 7, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Belchertown, MA, Oct 7, 2026

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Belchertown, MA, Oct 7, 2026

We had the coldest morning of the fall so far today with scattered frost and some morning fog.  I decided to head across the river to Arcadia.  Initially it was clear and cold but then the fog rolled in and activity remained subdued until the fog finally burned off.  Yellow rumped Warblers were the predominant warbler species and this will likely be the case moving forward.  I had just half a dozen species at Arcadia over the course of nearly three hours.  Other species including a slightly late Black and White Warbler, at least three Tennessee Warblers, one American Redstart and a few each of Common Yellowthroat and Palm Warbler.  After running a few errands I made another stop in Belchertown and added a Northern Parula and Black throated Green Warbler for the day.  We are now at the point where getting double digit counts for species will be notable.