Hooded Warblers in Hampden County

Hooded Warbler carrying food, Grace Robinson State Wildlife Sanctuary, Westfield, MA, Jun 25, 2026

Ovenbird fledgling, Grace Robinson State Wildlife Sanctuary, Westfield, MA, Jun 25, 2026

American Redstart, Skinner SP, South Hadley, MA, Jun 25, 2026

Louisiana Waterthrush, Skinner SP, South Hadley, MA, Jun 25, 2026

Worm eating Warbler, Skinner SP, South Hadley, MA, Jun 25, 2026

Ovenbird, Skinner SP, South Hadley, MA, Jun 25, 2026

Black and White Warbler fledgling, Skinner SP, South Hadley, MA, Jun 25, 2026

Although I had already had Hooded Warbler for the year with one that showed up in Hadley in early May I never got any photos of that bird as it stayed hidden from view.  The location in Hampden County I visited this morning has featured breeding Hooded Warblers for multiple years and my goal was to get some photos of the birds.  I had one singing a dawn song distantly fairly early in my walk and eventually had at least two males singing plus a female.  One of the males was seen carrying food multiple times to a hidden nest or fledglings.  I had a number of other warblers in the area including several fledglings.  After over an hour of enjoying the Hooded Warblers I headed over to South Hadley to hike into the southern part of Skinner SP with the dual goals of finding Acadian Flycatchers and turning up more warblers for the day.  Happily I had success with both goals and once again had multiple fledgling warblers.