May comes to an end with an unusually plumaged Black throated Blue Warbler and continued Lawrence's Warbler and Cerulean Warblers in Quabbin Park

Blue winged Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 26, 2023

American Redstart on nest, Quabbin Park, MA, May 26, 2023

Chestnut sided Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 24, 2023

The big month of May has now come to an end and with it the busiest and most diverse time of warblers here.  It was a fairly decent month for warblers with 30 species in Hampshire County and a total of 31 species for the month (the addition to the county list was the continued Yellow throated Warbler in Franklin County).  The biggest rarities for the month included an Orange crowned Warbler and at least one Hooded Warbler that was rather uncooperative but at least I was able to hear it (Last year I missed having a Hooded Warbler in the county for the first time in several years so at least one was back this year).  Bay breasted Warblers and Tennessee Warbler made a good showing this month but Cape May Warbler were down.  I had a decent number of Mourning Warblers again this spring and I will cover that species in great detail in an upcoming post.  Most other species seemed to be around average with lots of great nights for migration from mid month onward.  With most migrant species that are heading further already having moved through the next few months will be spent catching up on all the breeding species and taking part in a wide variety of bird surveys.  

Cerulean Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 30, 2023

After initially finding a Cerulean Warbler on May 22 and finding it on a few subsequent visits I had two present in the same general area on May 30 and perhaps breeding will once again take place within Quabbin Park.  My post from the 22nd goes into greater detail on Cerulean Warblers in Quabbin Park.

Lawrence's Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 31, 2023

I also relocated the Lawrence's Warbler on first found on the 12th and then saw again on the 19th, 20th and 21st and then went missing again until today.  It will be interesting to see if it manage to find a mate like the one I had in Belchertown last year did.

Black throated Blue Warbler with unusual plumage, Quabbin Park, MA, May 31, 2023

Black throated Blue Warbler with unusual plumage, Quabbin Park, MA, May 31, 2023

Black throated Blue Warbler with unusual plumage, Quabbin Park, MA, May 31, 2023

Black throated Blue Warbler with unusual plumage, Quabbin Park, MA, May 31, 2023

Another interesting warbler this morning at Quabbin Park was a Black throated Blue Warbler that was singing a Cerulean Warbler like song and had some odd plumage on the chest.  Black throated Blue Warblers in the area can sing Cerulean Warbler like songs and David Sibley wrote an interesting post about it a few years ago (link to article here).  I have never seen a Black throated Blue Warbler with the plumage I saw today with blue on the chest that formed a partial ring.