After getting out of work this snowy Christmas Eve morning I headed for a private residence in South Hadley where a Cape May Warbler is overwintering. It has been present since at least December 8th and I saw it for the first time back on the 14th when I returned from Peru and Bolivia. It has made it through a few bouts of snow and cold including some days this past week with temps around zero and wind chills well below at times. I have talked with the homeowners multiple times concerning the bird and they mentioned possibly offering it some fresh water. I had a heated bird bath I was not currently using and offered it to them to borrow as long as the warbler hangs around and that was what I dropped off for them today. They let me know it was still there this morning despite a quick hitting snow storm and when I arrived I quickly got looks at it on a suet feeder. So weird to see a Cape May Warbler in the snow! It is one of the more unexpected warbler species to try to overwinter this far north. It has defied the odds so far and seems to be doing well. It looks to have some nice nearby evergreen thickets to roost in, a steady supply of food and now some water. We shall see how long it can hang on but it has a chance. I was going to try to track down a Yellow rumped Warbler today too but the snow was a bit too much to even bother trying.
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