Orange crowned Warbler this morning

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', UMASS, Amherst, MA, May 4, 2025

Prairie Warbler, UMASS, Amherst, MA, May 4, 2025

Magnolia Warbler, UMASS, Amherst, MA, May 4, 2025

Brewster's Warbler, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 4, 2025

Blue winged Warbler, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 4, 2025

Migration conditions were good again last night and although the overall number of migrants were down from previous nights there was still a noticeable influx.  We thankfully just missed being impacted by some severe weather yesterday afternoon.  After the severe weather with lots of heavy rain, today dawned with fog and some low clouds and a little drizzle.  Although I could not stray too far from home for a few reasons I did get some birding in the Amherst area and this proved to be a good pick.  I started along the rail trail where I turned up the Brewster's Warbler I first found there a couple days ago as well as a ten other species of warbler.  I then decided to try my luck at UMASS with my remaining time before I had to head home.  Once I arrived I immediately had a large mixed species flock with the predominate species being Yellow rumped Warbler with other species of warblers among them with the biggest surprise being an Orange crowned Warbler that I got great views of as it fed in large mature oak tree.  After seeing the bird for about ten seconds one of the hordes of Yellow rumped Warblers flew at it and they both chased each other around and I was never able to relocate the Orange crowned Warbler again despite a lot of effort so no photo unfortunately.  Despite not being able to stay out as long as I would have liked I still managed  twenty species of warblers for the day.  Now for a little more about Orange crowned Warblers in the county in spring.  It is a fairly rare species in the area in the spring and I have had a total of eleven records ever for the spring with the dates ranging from April 29-May 16, with most in the early May timeframe.  UMASS is certainly a hotspot for the species for me with seven of my eleven records occurring within the confines of the campus including two at the same time last year.