The Pursuit of Warblers

Thursday, March 5, 2026

Multiple Yellow rumped Warblers this morning

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Arcadia, Easthampton, MA, Mar 5, 2026

I just got back from a vacation to Texas and then Arizona and I was able to get out a bit this morning before the rain. freezing rain and sleet arrived. We still have a foot and a half of snow on the ground so we certainly need to add more. My main aim this morning was to catch up with at least one overwintering Yellow rumped Warbler and I happily found at least five together at Arcadia. Nice to see they made it through the terrible winter. This extended my streak of having at least one warbler per month in Hampshire County to 107 consecutive months.

Saturday, February 21, 2026

Short get away to Texas for Tropical Parula and Mangrove Yellow Warbler

Mangrove Yellow Warbler, Queen Isabella Causeway east, South Padre Island, TX, Feb 19, 2026

I just made a brief down to the lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas starting on Wednesday and continuing through early Saturday. I made the trip mainly to try to track down a couple warbler species with the main one being a Tropical Parula for me in the US (I have seen the species many times in the tropics) and the other being a Mangrove Yellow Warbler. I arrived into Harlingen in the middle of the afternoon on Wednesday and then made the drive down to my Airbnb in Brownsville. The weather was very windy and warm when I arrived and these conditions unfortunately continued every day. By the time I drove down, did some shopping and dropped off my stuff at my Airbnb it was late afternoon. Although I didn’t think I would have much luck so late in the day with the wind I made a trip down to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) to try to locate one of two male Tropical Parula known to be at the site. As expected the wind was just too strong and there was little activity during my stop. At least I was able to recon the area a bit so I would know how to get around on the following morning.

Tropical Parula, UTRGV, Brownsville, TX, Feb 19, 2026

Yellow throated Warbler, UTRGV, Brownsville, TX, Feb 19, 2026

Northern Parula, UTRGV, Brownsville, TX, Feb 19, 2026

Orange crowned Warbler, UTRGV, Brownsville, TX, Feb 19, 2026

American Redstart, UTRGV, Brownsville, TX, Feb 19, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', UTRGV, Brownsville, TX, Feb 19, 2026

Black and White Warbler, UTRGV, Brownsville, TX, Feb 19, 2026

Nashville Warbler, UTRGV, Brownsville, TX, Feb 19, 2026

Mangrove Yellow Warbler, Queen Isabella Causeway east, South Padre Island, TX, Feb 19, 2026

On Thursday the 19th I was out before dawn and headed back down to the UTRGV campus. The wind was still strong before the sun came up and continued for my entire time there. Once it brightened a bit I started getting some warblers with the first being Common Yellowthroats and then Yellow rumped Warblers (mainly Myrtle’s with one Audubon’s) plus some Orange crowned Warblers and a Yellow throated Warbler. I then caught sight of a male Tropical Parula and then a Yellow rumped chased it away and I got just a few poor photos. One target down and my 51st warbler species ever in the US. I then spent the next two plus hours trying to relocate the bird with no luck with that. However I did keep finding warblers and eventually had a dozen species including other notables for the area like American Redstart and Tennessee Warbler as well as a female Tropical Parula x Northern Parula hybrid. The small area was really great for warblers with a dozen species and I can only imagine how much better it would be when there is no wind. With my target Tropical Parula seen and not reappearing for photos, I decided to make the 45 minute drive out to South Padre Island and try my luck in finding a Mangrove Yellow Warbler. Once again I had some great tips from Aidan on where to try for the bird and most importantly where to park. Once I crossed over the causeway to the island I quickly found multiple Mangrove Yellow Warblers and got some photos of this recently split species. There were at least three present with a couple singing occasionally and I got some crappy recordings. I have seen the species extensively in the tropics but only once before in the US and that was in Florida where the species does not have the full rusty head like the subspecies in far south Texas. I also added a Northern Waterthrush for the day in the mangroves and my total number of warblers for the day finished at 14 with four of those new for the year for me….my best warbler day for the year so far. I considered heading back down to the campus to try to get photos of the Tropical Parula late in the afternoon once I was back at my Airbnb but honestly I did not relish dealing with the absolutely shitty roads of Brownsville. The roads in Brownsville are a mess with poor conditions and signage and reminded me more of driving in a third world country than the US.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

For my last full day in Texas on Friday I headed west to visit a few spots away from Brownsville. There had been a female Tropical Parula seen at Estero Llano Grande SP so that gave me a good excuse to head there. During previous trips to the valley I found the park to be very productive and it once again produced some good stuff. I arrived before dawn and was able to start exploring the park right away. I walked a variety of trails before making it to the area where the Tropical Parula had been seen. It was overcast with fairly light winds early on and was a nice break from the winds…the mosquitoes unfortunately loved the conditions too and they were a bit of a bother. The parula had been reported coming into a water drip set up so that is where I waited for it. After about 15 minutes a group of birds were moving through the dense vegetation near the drip and included two Orange crowned Warblers, a Nashville Warbler and the Tropical Parula. I got brief looks at it and I hoped it would come down to the drip but that was not to be. Eventually the Orange crowned Warblers came down and enjoyed the water. I waited for over 45 minutes and then checked some nearby areas without every seeing the parula again. The park produced five species of warblers during my time there. The sun was breaking through as I was leaving to make a stop at Santa Anna NWR and the temps jumped into the 80’s quickly and the damn wind picked up. The refuge was very quiet so I left to work my way back toward my Airbnb. With the slightly less windy conditions present I decided to drive directly back to the UTRGV campus to try to relocate the Tropical Parulas there. Despite spending three hot hours looking and listening I never did see the Parula for certain…I had a brief view of a warbler getting chased by a Yellow throated Warbler and Black throated Gray Warbler that may have been the parula. It was still worth the stop even without getting the parula as I had eleven species of warblers including a couple unusual species including American Redstart and Tennessee Warbler. By the end of the day I found a dozen species of warblers.

I had a late morning flight out of Harlingen on my way to Arizona on Saturday and I was only able to get a little birding in before heading to the airport. I decided to try my luck at Hugh Ramsey Park which is not too far from the airport. I arrived there before dawn and during my two and a half hours there I found four species of warblers.

Overall for the trip I found a total of 15 species of warblers with five of them new for me in Texas (Yellow throated Warbler, Tropical Parula, Black throated Green Warbler, Mangrove Yellow Warbler and Northern Waterthrush). The short trip produced four new warbler species for the year for me and brought that total up to 25 species.

Friday, February 13, 2026

Pine Warbler surviving the winter in Williamsburg

Pine Warbler, Williamsburg, MA, Feb 13, 2026

I had the morning free today and my main focus was on trying to track down a Pine Warbler that has been coming to a feeder at a private residence in Williamsburg since later January. I first heard about it when the homeowners reported it to eBird. At the time I was down in Florida and although I hoped it would stick around until I got back home I did not hold out a lot of hope as the weather turned bitter cold with snow and wind for weeks. Once I got home I sent an email to see if the bird was still around and got a response back that the warbler was indeed still around! After a few back and forth emails I set up Friday morning to stop by. Although a cold morning with lows around 10, the wind was forecast to be light and the temperatures would hopefully respond quickly to the full sun so a good morning to try for it. I arrived around 8AM and met Rick who invited me to sit on the porch and watch the feeders at the front of the house. He mentioned the warbler had been in fairly recently. There were hundreds of American Goldfinches and I scanned through them over and over until I finally picked up the Pine Warbler as he waded through the crowd of goldfinches and then came into the mealworm feeder. He picked up a few mealworms and then disappeared for 25+ minutes before making a return trip to the feeder. Again he stayed just a short time before heading off to parts unknown. I suspect he is visiting another feeder nearby. It was quite pleasant sitting on the deck, talking with Rick and waiting for the warbler to return. My sincere to thanks to both Rick and Dave for allowing me to stop by and see the warbler.

Pine Warblers are very infrequent overwintering visitors to the area and I will look at the records over the last 25 years or so. Most years there are no Pine Warblers that overwinter here at all. Within Hampshire County there are just a handful of records. One overwintered at a private residence in Granby from January through February and fed on suet. Another showed at a feeder in Northampton in December of 2022 and continued to the end of January of 2023 and again was feeding on suet. A major anomaly occurred during the winter of 2023-2024 when double digit counts of Pine Warblers showed up in the south Quabbin area. In late February I had up to eleven individuals in Belchertown alone at three separate locations. The only reason I can come up with for the exceptionally large numbers of overwinter Pine Warblers was a huge Eastern White Pine cone crop and a relatively mild winter overall. There are just a couple other records in the area during this 25 year period so most years feature no Pine Warblers at all so the species remains a very uncommon species in the area in the winter and any that are found are unusual for sure.

After seeing the Pine Warbler I made a stop at Arcadia and had at least two Yellow rumped Warblers so I ended up with two species of warbler for the day...not bad for mid February.

Wednesday, February 11, 2026

At least one Yellow rumped Warbler still surviving along the Connecticut River

Now that I'm back in the frozen north for a short time I eventually made it out late this morning to try to track down a warbler here. I wanted to get out early but snow clean up took most of the morning (after starting it yesterday after I got home). By the time I made it to a spot along the river the breeze was steadily picking up. I walked the trail in that was packed down fairly well and on my return I heard one calling as it flew over. I then got totally soaked trudging through about a foot and a half of snow trying to relocate it without any luck. Would have loved to get some photos of it. Nonetheless it was still nice to have at least one surviving despite all the snow and cold. I'm now at 106 consecutive months of at least one warbler in Hampshire County. Hopefully I will be able to get some photos of a Yellow rumped Warbler before I head off to warmer locales in about a week.

Sunday, February 8, 2026

Final week in Florida comes to an end

Yellow throated Warbler, Campbell Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 2, 2026

Prairie Warbler, Campbell Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 2, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Gemini Springs Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 2, 2026

Black and White Warbler, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 2, 2026

Common Yellowthroat, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 2, 2026

Pine Warbler, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 2, 2026

Palm Warbler 'western', Gemini Springs Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 2, 2026

To kick off the final week in Florida I had to contend with record setting cold once again with morning lows in the 20's with a slight breeze (not nearly as windy as the day before). With the less than ideal conditions I once again didn't stray too far from the house with visits to Gemini Springs Park, Thornby Park, Campbell Park and Audubon Park. I took a lesson from home with my strategy today in tracking down warblers by finding a sunny edge as the sun rose and warmed things up. It worked fairly well with a few mixed flocks found and I ended the morning with eight species of warblers.

Northern Yellow Warbler, Lake Woodruff NWR, De Leon Springs, FL, Feb 3, 2026

Common Yellowthroat, Lake Woodruff NWR, De Leon Springs, FL, Feb 3, 2026

Palm Warbler 'western', Lake Woodruff NWR, De Leon Springs, FL, Feb 3, 2026

For Tuesday I headed north to Lake Woodruff NWR well before dawn. It was yet again a frosty morning and the warbler activity was low, especially early on in the morning. There were lots of Common Yellowthroats, Palm Warblers and Yellow rumped Warblers plus the continued Northern Yellow Warbler. The Northern Yellow Warbler has been incredibly reliable at the location and is always within an area of less than a fifty foot circle. This seems to be the case with other Northern Yellow Warblers I have found down in Florida. I came home somewhat early to pick up Wilson and then we headed to Gemini Springs Park. Just half a dozen species for the day.

Northern Parula, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 4, 2026

Black and White Warbler, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 4, 2026

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Gemini Springs Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 4, 2026

Wednesday was finally a morning without frost (although just barely with temps at 35). I spent about three hours at Gemini Springs Park and then came home and picked up Wilson for a walk back at the park. I started off before dawn and started adding warblers once the sun started warming stuff up. I got some great looks at a variety of species and got a few good photos. The most noteworthy warbler for the day was an American Redstart on had on my walk with Wilson (a new species for me in Volusia County). A total of nine warbler species for the day. It eventually warmed into the low 70's with lots of sun.

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Blue Heron Nature Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 5, 2026

Palm Warbler 'western', Blue Heron Nature Park, Deltona, FL, Feb 5, 2026

Rain arrived for Thursday and persisted on and off through midday and then the wind picked up. I got out a bit as soon as the rain let up and visited a couple nearby parks. Even without ideal conditions and rain threatening I had seven species of warbler.

Yellow throated Warbler, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 6, 2026

Common Yellowthroat, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 6, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 6, 2026

Orange crowned Warbler, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 6, 2026

Black and White Warbler, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 6, 2026

Palm Warbler 'western', Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 6, 2026

Pine Warbler, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 6, 2026

Friday was another morning with frost unfortunately, although with no clouds and light breezes initially it was not too bad. I decided to headed down once again to Gemini Springs Park and I had some good warblers there once again. I got some great looks at a number of species as I ran across a few mixed species flocks. Among the eight species for the morning before the wind picked up was my first Black throated Green Warbler (warbler species #21 for the trip and the year).

Pine Warbler, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 7, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 7, 2026

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 7, 2026

Black and White Warbler, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 7, 2026

Orange crowned Warbler, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 7, 2026

Prairie Warbler, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 7, 2026

Northern Parula, Gemini Springs Park, Deltona/Debary, FL, Feb 7, 2026

On Saturday I returned to Gemini Springs Park before dawn and stayed there for a few hours. I originally was going to go further away but with a bit of a breeze I figured it was not worth a longer trip. The park once again produced a great selection of warblers with nine species total. Not bad at all considering the breeze.

Common Yellowthroat, Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, FL, Feb 8, 2026

Northern Yellow Warbler, Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, FL, Feb 8, 2026

Orange crowned Warbler, Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, FL, Feb 8, 2026

Black and White Warbler, Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive, FL, Feb 8, 2026

For the last full day in Florida I headed to the Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive and spent around three and a half hours there. It was a sunny day that started cool and warmed up nicely with full sun...a great bit of weather as our time in Florida comes to an end. Even with the spot not being typically great for warblers I found a total of eight species including one of the continued Northern Yellow Warblers and loads of Common Yellowthroats and Palm Warblers.

Now a look at overall numbers for the trip to Florida that lasted from January 4-February 9. I had a total of 21 species with two of those new for me in the state (Northern Yellow Warbler and Swainson's Warbler). The Swainson's Warbler was also new for me in the US. My Florida warbler list now stands at 28 species.