19 species of warblers to start off July

American Redstart, Quabbin Park, MA, Jul 1, 2026

Common Yellowthroat, Quabbin Gate 8, Pelham, MA, Jul 1, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Reed Conservation Area, Belchertown, MA, Jul 1, 2026

To start off July I decided to try to see how many warbler species I could find despite the heat.  I originally was going to include areas outside Hampshire County but given the heat I decided to stay within the county so I could cover enough areas to get a chance at the most species while also getting home early enough to take Wilson for a walk before it got brutally hot.  I started off looking for warblers in South Hadley and then worked my way to Pelham and finally Belchertown.  I was able to get all 19 of the somewhat expected species of warblers in the county despite the heat and the greatly reduced amount of song from a number of species and got them all before getting home around nine.

June ends on a hot note

Prairie Warbler, Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, Jun 28, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Reed Conservation Area, Belchertown, MA, Jun 28, 2026

Cerulean Warbler with leg bands, Quabbin Park, MA, Jun 27, 2026

June came to an end today and with it the beginning of a multi day heat wave that will feature record setting temps in the upper 90's with high humidity that will continue into the weekend.  It was a productive month for warblers with highlights including a Nashville Warbler a few days ago at Quabbin Park and confirmed breeding of Cerulean Warbler at Quabbin Park for another year.  I ended the month with 24 species of warblers (with all but one of those being in Hampshire County...I did make a trip down to Hampden County late in the month for Hooded Warblers).  July will bring a trip out west (assuming Wilson stays healthy) with a few days in Minnesota and Wisconsin before continuing on to Alaska and then to Oregon before coming home.  I hope to get Kirtland's Warbler and Golden winged Warbler in Wisconsin (and perhaps Connecticut Warbler if I get the other two targets right away).  Alaska will not feature any new warblers for the year but hopefully some photos opportunities of a few species and Oregon should offer better chances for photos of a couple species including MacGillivray's Warbler and Hermit 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.

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.

Two new species for the year to start off May with Worm eating Warblers and Cerulean Warblers

Northern Yellow Warbler, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 1, 2026

Blue winged Warbler, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 1, 2026

Blue winged Warbler, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 1, 2026

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 1, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 1, 2026

Cerulean Warbler, Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, May 1, 2026

Cerulean Warbler, Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, May 1, 2026

Cerulean Warbler, Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, May 1, 2026

Worm eating Warbler, Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, May 1, 2026

Worm eating Warbler, Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, May 1, 2026

I headed out to start May before dawn on yet another chilly spring morning.  Although migration conditions were not great last night I figured some species would still move even with less than perfect conditions.  I decided on birding some areas of Hadley.  I started off at Mitch's Way and made sure to stay on the road as there were turkey hunters in the area.  It was quite slow for warblers initially with the cold temps the likely culprit.  I did get my first Northern Waterthrush for the county for the year plus five other species.  As I was already in the area I decided to hike up to the top of the mountain in Skinner SP in the hopes Cerulean Warbler and/or Worm eating Warblers had arrived.  I almost didn't bother making the hike up as I was not certain with of the species would be present but figured I would try. Once I got up above Taylor's Notch I heard and then saw my first Worm eating Warbler of the year.  This was quickly followed by a Cerulean Warbler.  Happy to see a couple of each species back in the area for another summer.  I checked the two Cerulean Warblers closely for any bands without finding any.  It will be interesting if any of the banded warblers return this year (more on that from a post last year regarding the banding of the species locally) The Worm eating Warbler and Cerulean Warbler became species #39 and #40 for me for the year in the US as the goal to see them all this year comes closer.  After my time I headed up to the rail trail in Amherst and added a number of species for the day with a total of 16 species.  Not a bad way to start out May with lots more good stuff to come.

The end of April warblers

Magnolia Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 26, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 27, 2026

Black and White Warbler, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 29, 2026

Wilson relaxing after a walk, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 29, 2026

Blackburnian Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 30, 2026

The end of April continued to feature mainly subpar migration conditions with below average numbers and variety of warblers.  Today was rainy in the morning and never really warmed up.  Nonetheless I was out walking a little in the rain and my reward was one new warbler species for the year with a Blackburnian Warbler at Quabbin Park (warbler species #38 for the year in the US).  The previous few days were at least mainly sunny and pleasant but without good winds to move stuff in the warblers mainly trickled in.  I did manage my first double digit warbler day of the spring here on Tuesday with eleven species including my first Blue winged Warbler of the year plus my first Northern Parula of the year in Hampshire County.  Yesterday featured one new species for me for the year in the county with a Prairie Warbler.  The record early Magnolia Warbler I found on my birthday continued for me for at least another day 

Palm Warblers 'yellow', Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 28, 2026

I also added a second species at the water feature with Palm Warblers on the 28th.

To end out April in the county I found a total of 14 species with two of those (Blue winged Warbler and Blackburnian Warbler) being new for me for my big warbler year in the US moving my total to 38 species so far.  April overall was quite productive for warblers with my trips to Texas, New Mexico and Arizona plus warblers at home bringing me to 27 species seen for the month.  May will rapidly bring in numbers of warblers and I will be out there enjoying them as much as possible.  May migration is truly one of the best reasons to live here.