The big month of warblers has now come to an end and I will take a quick look at totals and highlights for the month. The very beginning of the month started off strong with double digit species counts to start the month. By the end of the first week I had added Lawrence's Warbler and Orange crowned to the growing list of warblers for the month. On the 10th I had a morning with both Blue winged Warbler and Golden winged Warbler plus both easily recognized hybrids...something I have never done before in the area (unfortunately the Golden winged Warbler was in Franklin County and not in Hampshire County). On the 18th I did a big warbler day in Hampshire County and found a total of 28 species. Nearing the end of the month another Brewster's Warbler along with multiple Mourning Warblers showed up but after that the weather got very cool and rainy and I had to work so no chance to add any other unusual warblers.
Total warblers for the month came to 31 with thirty of those seen in Hampshire County (the Golden winged Warbler in Franklin County being the only species seen for the month but not in Hampshire County). In addition I had multiple hybrids with a Lawrence's Warbler and two Brewster's Warblers (as well as other Blue winged x Golden winged Warbler hybrids). Overall the warbler migration season started off strong but by the end it fizzled out with many late season migrants showing up in low numbers (compared to a typical year). We shall see by fall if the number of these species bounce back with the low numbers in spring being caused by the birds taking advantage of good migration conditions and flying over without stopping and not a drop in numbers of migrants...time will tell.
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