West gates at Quabbin

Black and White Warbler, Gate 11, September 5,2010

Northern Parula, Gate 11, September 5, 2010

I made yet another early morning trip up the west side of Quabbin. I began this morning at dawn at Gate 22. After a close encounter at dawn with a large bull Moose I made the trek down to the water and back. The woods along the way held a few mixed species flocks with a total of seven species of warbler here with the highlights being a still singing Black throated Blue Warbler, my first Northern Parula of the season and two Tennessee Warblers together. I got a marginal record shot of one of the two Tennessee's.

Tennessee Warbler, Gate 22, September 5, 2010

My next stop was at Gate 16 which held a few nice birds including a total of nine warbler species including another Northern Parula. The breeze continued to pick up so I decided to move down to Gate 11 to try and get there before the wind got any worse. However by the time I started down Gate 11 road the breeze had turned into a wind with gusts over 30 mph. I almost gave up on finding anything in these conditions but thought I would give it a try anyway. I'm glad I tried as I came across a nice mixed species flock feeding both high and low and moving down the road. I found four Northern Parula's including one still calling, a Blackpoll, several Black thoated Greens and others. For the morning I had a total of twelve warbler species.