MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER in Hampshire County!

MacGillivray's Warbler, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Nov 13, 2017

MacGillivray's Warbler, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Nov 13, 2017

MacGillivray's Warbler, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Nov 13, 2017

MacGillivray's Warbler, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Nov 13, 2017

MacGillivray's Warbler, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Nov 13, 2017

MacGillivray's Warbler, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Nov 13, 2017

MacGillivray's Warbler, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Nov 13, 2017

What a fantastic day of birding in Hampshire County with the highlight by far being a MacGillivray's Warbler!  The bird was found yesterday by Ted Gilliland and seen by several others late in the day.  I got a few phone calls and messages about the bird but due to other non birding obligations I couldn't check them until it was too late in the day to try for the bird.  I had high hopes that I would be able to relocate the bird this morning but my hopes were tempered by the fact that unusual warblers can be quite difficult to relocate after the initial sighting.  I arrived before dawn at 'That's a Plenty a Farm' and started listening and looking for the bird.  After just a few minutes I heard it call just a couple times down the road from me but I could not relocate it at that point.  A few other birders (Mary, Scott and Mike) arrived and we all started looking for it.  It called a few more times but still would not show itself.  After quite a bit of time Mike got a brief look at the bird and then the bird started to show itself a bit more and started calling more regularly and loudly before it flew across the road into a small green patch were it stayed largely out of view and silent for quite some time, offering just fleeting glimpses.  After a patient and quiet wait in the cold, the bird finally showed well (if briefly) before disappearing again.  I managed to get a few photos and some recordings of the call but it required a high level of patience.

The MacGillivray's Warbler becomes the 33rd warbler species in Hampshire County this year for me (which makes 2017 the highest total I have ever reached for warbler species in the county).  It also becomes warbler species #35 I have ever seen in the county (after the Yellow breasted Chat got demoted from warbler status).  This leaves me with just four warbler species that have been sighted in the county that I have not seen, with those species being Black throated Gray Warbler (seen in Westhampton in Oct 1973), Townsend's Warbler (seen and photographed in Amherst in Nov 2013...thanks to Scott for the update on this species), Hermit Warbler (seen in Amherst in Nov 1995) and Yellow throated Warbler (seen and photographed in Hadley in Oct 2010).  As you can see the best time to find a western (or southern warbler in the case of Yellow throated Warbler) is in the fall so perhaps another rarity will show up before 2017 ends?

I also managed to find two Yellow rumped Warblers over the course of the morning while out and about including one at Arcadia and another in Belchertown.

MacGillivray's Warbler is quite rare anywhere east of the Mississippi River with most of the handful of records being on the coast (where rarities tend to stop before flying out over the ocean and take advantage of whatever habitat they can find).  Checking eBird records for the last ten years shows perhaps just a couple dozen records anywhere east of the Mississippi River.  The closest breeding population is way out in the Dakotas so any bird making it east has flown a long way off course from their typical range.  For the current year this is just the fourth record in the eastern side of North America with the other records coming from Florida (currently being seen near Naples), one in Rye, NH in early September and another early September bird in Orleans, MA (Cape Cod).