With the forecast of strong winds for today I didn't have a lot of hope of finding anything too unusual but given the time of year and marginal migration conditions last night it was certainly still worth getting out. At dawn the wind was light and I took advantage of the conditions to take a walk along the rail trail in Amherst (where I did find a rarity but it was not a warbler). I did have nine species of warbler along the rail trail with most represented by just a single individual. I made a few more stops in Hadley and Amherst as the wind steadily picked up. By late in the morning I was back home and noticed a message from Mary saying she had a Hooded Warbler in Hadley so I headed back out the door to head over. The wind was very strong as I parked the car but as I walked into the woods along the river it slackened a little but was still strong at times. I met up with Mary and Greg and after a little waiting the warbler sang a few times. This behavior of singing a few times followed by long periods of silence continued during the entire time I was there. I got a few fleeting glimpses of the bird as it stayed fairly low to the ground in very dense cover. Eventually I just stayed put in one spot and waited for the bird to move back into view. Eventually it showed itself a little better and I was able to get a few photos. The habitat looks perfect for it to breed and hopefully it can attract a mate. This species is at the very limit of its northern range so there is at least a chance it will find a female. This is the earliest I have ever had the species in Hampshire County and is in fact the earliest record for the species in all of western Massachusetts (at least as far as eBird data is concerned). Oddly it is within 50 feet of where I found my first one in the county back in 2009. A very good start to warbler season here for sure.
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