Big warbler year in the US update

Blue winged Warbler, KC Trail, Amherst, MA, May 20, 2026

Bay breasted Warbler, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 20, 2026

Brewster's Warbler, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 20, 2026

Worm eating Warbler, Skinner SP, South Hadley, MA, May 21, 2026

Now for an update on the progress of my big warbler year in the US.  At this point I have seen a total of 46 species plus the two widely recognized hybrids of Blue winged x Golden winged Warblers.   There are now just five regularly species I have not yet seen with Golden winged Warbler, Prothonotary Warbler, Connecticut Warbler, Kentucky Warbler and Kirtland's Warbler.  The only species I'm likely to get here at home would be a Connecticut Warbler in the fall.  The rest will require a trip away from home although there is always a chance of a few of the species showing up here as a rarity.  My plan going forward to get the remaining species is to make a drive a bit further south (probably Pennsylvania...hopefully somewhere closer) to get Kentucky Warbler and maybe a Golden winged Warbler.  I then have a short stop planned (two nights) for Wisconsin before our trip up to Alaska in July.  This should get me Prothonotary Warbler near Minneapolis (where I'm flying into), Golden winged Warbler (if I missed it elsewhere) and Kirtland's Warbler (hopefully in the upper peninsula of Michigan and if not I will have to make a longer drive to the lower peninsula).  Depending on how the trip works out I may also try to get Connecticut Warbler on their breeding grounds in Minnesota.  There are other rare warblers possible in the US (Crescent chested Warbler, Gray crowned Yellowthroat, Fan tailed Warbler, Golden crowned Warbler and Slate throated Redstart) but I'm very unlikely to get these as most do not show up every year and each would involve a decent investment of time and money.  The only one of the above mentioned species that has been reported so far this year is Golden crowned Warbler in the lower Rio Grande Valley.  In addition I'm still toying with the idea of making a late year trip down to Puerto Rico to get two more species for the US big year with Elfin Woods Warbler and Adelaide's Warbler (sadly airfares have gone up significantly thanks to the debacle in the middle east).  For now I will continue to try to find one (or more) of the remaining species as a rarity here and try to figure out when to make the drive south to get Kentucky Warbler.

Common Yellowthroat, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 18, 2026

Around the yard I have added a few new warbler species for the year in the last several days with my total for the year now at 22 species with the recent additions of Canada Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler and Tennessee Warbler.  I also captured a new species for the year at the water feature with a Common Yellowthroat.

Lawrence's Warbler today

Lawrence's Warbler, Hardwick, MA, May 18, 2026

Lawrence's Warbler, Hardwick, MA, May 18, 2026

Lawrence's Warbler, Hardwick, MA, May 18, 2026

Lawrence's Warbler, Hardwick, MA, May 18, 2026

Blue winged Warbler, Hardwick, MA, May 18, 2026

Cape May Warbler, Ware, MA, May 18, 2026

Prairie Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 18, 2026

Chestnut sided Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 18, 2026

After a big warbler day and two new warbler species for the year yesterday I decided to stay a bit more local today following yet another great night of migration.  With Quabbin Park still closed through the end of the week due to road construction I had to come up with a new plan for birding in the local area.  I settled on some spots in Ware where I spent about three hours and had 18 species.  Nothing really unusual although a nice mix of both breeding species and migrants moving north.  At this point I decided to try my luck on a previously reported Lawrence's Warbler in Hardwick.    Lawrence's Warbler is a hybrid between Blue winged Warbler and Golden winged Warbler and is the rarer of the two widely recognized hybrids (the other, more common hybrid is the Brewster's Warbler).  The reason the Lawrence's Warbler is rarer is due to the fact that the genes that produce the plumage pattern are recessive and the combination that needs to come together occurs infrequently.  Although not a true new species I can add for the year to my warbler list I still wanted to try and get a Lawrence's Warbler nonetheless as they are always so striking.  I have actually found a number of Lawrence's Warblers over the years but had not seen one for the year until today.  After a bit of searching I saw a regular Blue winged Warbler and within a few feet of it was the Lawrence's Warbler.  The two appeared to be paired up and followed each other around.  I did not hear the bird sing at all...it only called a few times and otherwise was silent.  I got a few photos of it and then left it alone to continue on with its life.  Now I had seen both of the common hybrids of the Blue winged/Golden winged Warbler complex.  As I was not too far away from Muddy Brook WMA I figured I would stop there to look for more warblers but I arrived to find some heavy equipment being moved around so I skipped there and headed to a part of Quabbin Park I could access and as expected ran across a number of warblers.  It was a 21 warbler species day...not quite the 28 species I had yesterday but quite successful with the addition of a Lawrence's Warbler.

Bay breasted Warbler today becomes warbler species #44 for the year, some unusual Blue winged Warblers and Cerulean Warblers come back to Quabbin

Blue winged Warbler with black forehead, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 8, 2026

Blue winged Warbler with black forehead, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 8, 2026

Blue winged Warbler with black forehead, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 8, 2026

Northern Waterthrush, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 8, 2026

Northern Waterthrush, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 8, 2026

Blue winged Warbler, KC Trail, Amherst, MA, May 8, 2026

Cerulean Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 8, 2026

Nashville Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 8, 2026

Today was a bit cool with temps in the mid 30's to start the day and highs that stayed in the 50's with a northerly breeze and overcast conditions.  Needless to say migration was mostly non existent overnight.  No matter the conditions it is early May and I will be out looking for stuff and today was no different.  I started out in Amherst with stops at Wildwood Cemetery, UMASS (multiple spots with Orchard Hill being depressing with more clearing of trees...a sad shadow of a previously great birding spot), the rail trail and a few other places before I headed back to Quabbin Park before returning home to get Wilson.  The notables for the day included warbler species #44 for me in the US this year with a Bay breasted Warbler while out walking Wilson, the continued Blue winged Warbler with a black forehead on the rail trail and a continued Cerulean Warbler at Quabbin Park (more on the Cerulean Warbler below).

Cerulean Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 8, 2026

Cerulean Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 8, 2026

Cerulean Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 8, 2026

American Redstart, Quabbin Park, MA, May 7, 2026

Black and White Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 7, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Quabbin Park, MA, May 7, 2026

Blue winged Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 7, 2026

Northern Yellow Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 7, 2026

Ovenbird, Quabbin Park, MA, May 7, 2026

Blue winged Warbler, Ware, MA, May 7, 2026

Prairie Warbler, Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, May 7, 2026

Yesterday started with some light rain just before dawn that thankfully quickly moved out.  Eventually it got sunnier and breezy.  Migration was stagnant overnight so I thought it would be a good time to hit some areas I have not as much as I would have liked the previous couple mornings when overnight migration was so good.  I stayed in the Ware and Quabbin Park area and I had some interesting sightings.  The first was an odd singing Blue winged Warbler (recordings and video in this list).  It would sing either a three or four part song, sounding a bit like a Golden winged Warbler.  I tracked it down and physically it looked exactly like a Blue winged Warbler should.  I have seen this multiple times before with Blue winged Warblers and most look like typical Blue winged Warblers.  The other big sighting was the return of at least one and possibly two Cerulean Warblers to Quabbin Park where they have started nesting again in the last few years.  The bird I did get to see did not have any bands (one was banded onsite as part of a Cerulean Warbler study last June and I got to assist...link here banding a Cerulean Warbler).  I have reached out to the biologist conducting the study and hopefully they will attempt to band the new male next week.  I ended the morning with another 20 warbler day.

Unusually plumaged Blue Winged Warbler plus two new warblers for the county this year

Blue winged Warbler with black forehead, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 6, 2026

Blue winged Warbler with black forehead, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 6, 2026

Blue winged Warbler with black forehead, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 6, 2026

Brewster's Warbler, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 6, 2026

Magnolia Warbler hover hunting, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 6, 2026

Wilson's Warbler, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 6, 2026

Black and White Warbler, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 6, 2026

Prairie Warbler, Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, May 6, 2026

Chestnut sided Warbler, Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, May 6, 2026

Blue winged Warbler getting harassed by Ruby throated Hummingbird, Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, May 6, 2026

After a banner day of birding yesterday that produced both Hooded Warbler and Canada Warbler for me for the year in the US today was slightly less productive but I still managed to find some good stuff including three new species for me in Hampshire County this year with Tennessee Warbler, Wilson's Warbler and Cape May Warbler.  I also relocated the Brewster's Warbler I originally found a couple days ago in Amherst plus Hooded Warbler in Hadley (I was once again unable to catch a glimspe but it did sing a bit)  One of the more interesting birds of the morning was a Blue winged Warbler with a black forehead.  I originally saw the individual a few days ago but thought the dark of the forehead was from being wet.  Better looks today seems to show an individual with black on the forehead and not some wetness on the feathers.  Beyond that plumage oddity the bird looked fine for a normal Blue winged Warbler.  After getting home and taking Wilson for a walk I headed over to Herman Covey WMA to check on some of the managed areas and had great counts of Prairie Warblers and Blue winged Warblers (plus loads of ticks...they are always bad there).  In addition I got to see some interesting behaviors with the warblers including watching a Magnolia Warbler hover hunt and a Blue winged Warbler getting harassed by a Ruby throated Hummingbird.  Today produced my first 20 warbler species day for the spring.

Hooded Warbler and Canada Warbler today add two more species for my US big warbler year

Black throated Blue Warbler, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 5, 2026

Black and White Warbler, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 5, 2026

American Redstart, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, May 5, 2026

Chestnut sided Warbler, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, May 5, 2026

Blue winged Warbler, Belchertown Land Trust Trail, Belchertown, MA, May 5, 2026

The day held lots of promise with the best night of migration in quite some time with south winds that were fairly strong and covered a large portion of the eastern US.  I was guiding for a visiting birder from India again today and we kept our plans fluid so we could follow up on any rare bird reports that came in during the morning.  I got a little birding in before meeting up for the morning of guiding and I could tell there had indeed been a good influx of species.  Our first stop was along the rail trail in Amherst and the forecasted strong winds were still light and the amount of bird song was high with multiple warblers even from the parking lot.  Not long after starting our walk I got a text letting me know of a Hooded Warbler in Hadley.  I decided to stick with covering the rail trail to see what else we could find before possibly heading south to try for the Hooded Warbler.  As we walked along the rail trail we turned up more and more warblers with a few showing quite well.  The best warbler for me on the walk was a Canada Warbler that sang from a deep tangle and as typical for the species, did not show at all.  Nonetheless it added another species for me for my big warbler year in the US and became species #42.  I will certainly catch up with more as the migration season continues on.  After about an hour and half along the rail trail and 14 species of warblers we headed south to try for the Hooded Warbler at Mitch's Way.  We made it through the traffic fairly easily and arrived just before eight and started walking in to the spot for the warbler.  Along the way we had lots of birds singing and calling including multiple species of warblers.  We made it to the spot and found Joe, Steve and Leslie on site and within a few minutes we heard the Hooded Warbler singing its classic song. Sometimes it sounded close and other times a distance away and it would go quiet for a time and then be heard again.  We tried to get looks at it but it never showed for us.  The Hooded Warbler became warbler species #43 for me in the US this year.  There were lots of other warblers around and the variety of song reminded me again why I love this area in spring (not so much in the colder months!).  We walked a bit further and ran across Ted (the finder of the Hooded Warbler) before returning to the Hooded Warbler spot.  The Hooded Warbler was still present and singing a non classic song and it yet again defied our efforts to get looks at it.  I had to settle on getting a few recordings before we headed out for the morning.  Mitch's Way produced an impressive 19 species of warbler for us and the morning ended with 20 species of warblers overall.  Sadly I didn't get pictures of either new warbler species for the year but I will hopefully get more chances in the near future.

Northern Parula, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 5, 2026

Northern Parula, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 5, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Home, Belchertown, MA, May 5, 2026

American Redstart, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 5, 2026

Black and White Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 5, 2026

The water feature also produced three warbler species for the day with a capture of a Northern Parula, Black and White Warbler and American Redstart.  A Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle' also showed back up today.  This makes three warbler species so far at the water feature...a bit behind the total of ten warbler I have had in the yard for the year.