Black Throated Blue Warbler eating ants

Black throated Blue Warbler feeding on flying ants, Gate 16, August 29, 2010

Black throated Blue Warbler feeding on flying ants, Gate 16, August 29, 2010

I made my way back to the west side of Quabbin today hitting Gate 22, 16 and 10. The numbers of birds seemed to be down a bit from yesterday but that could be that the birds were less concentrated due to the weather being warmer and the birds not having to congregate in the sunny spots this morning. There were still some nice birds around nonetheless. The highlights were another Tennessee Warbler, this time at the end of Gate 22. The other neat sighting was watching this Black throated Blue Warbler feeding on flying ants as they left their burrow and climbed this stump to fly off. It was a feeding frenzy for the warbler and the bird hardly noticed my presence.

Warbler along the western gates of Quabbin

A short post that I will add to but thought I would mention warblers continue to filter in and I came across a nice one today at Gate 16 when I found a Tennessee Warbler in among the other usual species. The weather has been quite good for migration the last couple nights and it appears migrants are starting to move.

Mixed species flocks

Magnolia Warbler, Quabbin Gate 16, August 21, 2010

Yellow rumped Warbler juvenile, Quabbin Gate 16, August 21, 2010

Black and White Warbler, Quabbin Gate 22, August 21, 2010

Black throated Green Warbler, Quabbin Gate 16, August 21,2010

I made a series of stops this morning on the west side of Quabbin starting at daybreak at Gate 22 going to the water and then onto Gate 16 and finally to Gate 5. There were several mixed species flocks encountered today with a total of twelve species of warbler seen. Its always exciting to see what variety of species you can come across in these mixed species flocks. There is always the chance of something unusual. Even without an unusual bird you are kept looking as various birds come in and you try to decipher the various plumage's of the various ages of birds. The Black and White Warblers continue to occasionally call and I had one Black throated Blue Warbler calling a few times. Overall there is no obvious migrants yet as all the species seen do breed in the area. The overall warbler list for the day included Magnolia, Black throated Green, Black throated Blue, Black and White, Blackburnian, Canada, Chestnut sided, Yellow rumped, Pine, American Redstart, Ovenbird and Common Yellowthroat.

Mystery warbler

Among the various warblers today on a trip into central Quabbin I came across this one. It was in a mixed species flock I pished in. I have my thoughts on it but would love to hear other opinions. The yellow band around the mid section was brighter than the photo shows (sorry best photo I could get of it). I have a couple other photos but this is the best of the bunch. Among the other warbler highlights today was a total of 13 species including a late Louisiana Waterthrush, an Overbird that almost flew into me and many juvenile birds among the adults.

Quabbin at dawn

I made a trip up to the north part of Quabbin (Gate 22 area) this morning to visit some areas I knew Chris Ellison use to visit. Chris died suddenly and unexpectedly last week (see my other blog for more info). The trip proved yet again how good a birding spot Quabbin is. I ran across my first mixed species flocks of warblers. Species included Canada, Chestnut sided, Pine, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Green, Common Yellowthroats and American Redstarts