A very rare warbler, usually found to our south, made an appearance in Hampshire County today when a Prothonotary Warbler was discovered by Bill DeLuca at the Bachelor Brook Conservation Area in South Hadley. I initially saw the report while out walking Wilson and the report sounded solid enough that I figured I would go check it out. There was no info initially on where in the area of the conservation area he had it but with only two spots that feature decent looks at the floodplain I picked one area only to find out after walking quite a distance in that the bird was seen at the opposite end of the trail. Both Mary and I continued to walk in and got updates from Greg that he was on the bird and it was singing a lot. We arrived and quickly got to see the beauty across a small stretch of water and got some distant photos as well as some recordings of its rather odd two part song (usually this species does not sing this type of song). It would disappear for a time and could be heard distantly singing and then would be silent for a few minutes (or perhaps moving further out of audio range). It would then return and sing quite a bit but would be tough to track down among the leaves. It changed its position often and worked fairly high into the trees as it fed. After our initial views we didn't see it again for quite a time and then I finally relocated it a bit lower down. Unfortunately it was even further away and this made getting decent photos a bit of a chore for me (I'm sure Joe got some great ones with his big lens). A few other birders arrived and all got some great looks of the bird. This is only the second one I have ever had in the county, with the first one being 20 years ago along the rail trail in late May. I believe that one stayed at least a week before disappearing to parts unknown. There have been just a couple other reports in the last 25 years with none of them chaseable and not being seen/heard by anyone beyond the initial sighting. Full album with more photos at the following link
Besides the Prothonotary Warbler it was a great day for warblers overall despite the threat of rain and overcast conditions throughout the day. I made a few walks in Amherst and around Quabbin during which I added quite a few species of warblers including the continued hybrid warblers and the Cerulean Warblers at Quabbin. While out I got a message about a Hooded Warbler that I figured I would try for. Although I had a record early Hooded Warbler in late April it is such a rarity it was worth trying to see another and add to the day and month warbler list. I was able to hear it singing distantly but no visuals of the bird in good breeding habitat. Little did I know at the time that the Hooded Warbler would be the second rarest warbler I would see today! I actually ended the day with my season high total of 27 species of warbler, even with missing a Wilson's Warbler as well as a Mourning Warbler. More on warblers during the past week in a future post as I tried to get a warbler big day to materialize.
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