A slow warbler migration continues

Common Yellowthroat, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 11, 2020

                                              American Redstart, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 12, 2020

Tennessee Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 12, 2020

                                   Northern Parula, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Sep 13, 2020

                                          Palm Warbler 'yellow', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 12, 2020

Now that we are midway between the second and third week of September the warbler migration thus far has been one of the worst falls I have ever seen as far as total numbers and diversity goes.  Even species that normally are around in small numbers have been totally absent for me (and reported by few others).  I have had 23 species so far for the month but have yet to find even a single Connecticut Warbler, Cape May Warbler, Bay breasted Warbler or Wilson's Warbler.  Other species I have seen just a handful of individuals despite a lot of effort outside.  I truly hope the big push has just not moved through but given the date a huge push seems somewhat unlikely.  The other possibility is that many of the large numbers and diversity have already moved through on good migration conditions and didn't stop in the area.  I'm still hopeful I will catch up with the above mentioned species at some point before September ends.

A somewhat slow first third of the month

Yellow Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 9, 2020

Common Yellowthroat, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 9, 2020

Yellow Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 9, 2020

American Redstart, Quabbin Park, MA, Sep 7, 2020

Blackburnian Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Sep 7, 2020

Blue winged Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Sep 4, 2020

Canada Warbler, North Hadley, MA, Sep 3, 2020

The first several days of September have been relatively slow as far as numbers and diversity of warblers are concerned.  Overall the weather has been less than optimal for migration which has kept a few species hanging around and a large influx from the north at bay.  I have managed to find a total of 21 species so far with many of those just a single individual of said species.  There is a cold front forecast to arrive late Thursday which should allow a large incursion of birds in as the winds blow from the north leading to good migration conditions.  I expect to see a decent arrival of warblers (and other migrants) from Friday through the first part of the weekend with the potential arrival of the first Connecticut Warblers of the season. 

September begins with a late Louisiana Waterthrush

Blackburnian Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Sep 1, 2020

Blackburnian Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Sep 1, 2020

I started September by getting out before dawn and making a few stops around the local area including Lake Wallace and Quabbin Park (where I spent most of my time).  The most unusual warbler for the morning was heard very early on at Lake Wallace when I had a very late Louisiana Waterthrush singing a partial song three times just as I arrived.  My attempts to track it down for a photo failed but not for lack of effort.  Migration is certainly well underway with a variety of mixed flocks seen over the course of the morning.  I had eleven species of warblers for the morning with a few still singing but most silently moving through.

More mixed flocks as we near the end of August

Black and White Warbler, Robbins Rd, Ware, MA, Aug 24, 2020

Ovenbird, Robbins Rd, Ware, MA, Aug 24, 2020

Prairie Warbler, Robbins Rd, Ware, MA, Aug 24, 2020

Common Yellowthroat, Robbins Rd, Ware, MA, Aug 24, 2020

Warbler migration is starting to pick up a bit as we enter in toward the end of August.  Mixed species flocks are becoming more common as breeding is complete and birds start wandering a bit.  Nothing too unusual for the last few days but a decent selection of species.  It will only get busier from here on through September.

American Redstart, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 20, 2020

A check of the camera at the water feature found a nice capture of an American Redstart.

Blue winged Warbler finally shows up in the yard!

Blue winged Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 8, 2020

Blue winged Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 8, 2020

Around midday today I finally managed to find a Blue winged Warbler in the yard after looking for one for the roughly 15 years we have lived here.  I was doing some work around the yard and noticed a small mixed flock moving through so I grabbed some binoculars and the third bird I looked at was a Blue winged Warbler.  I quickly made it back into the house and grabbed my camera and thankfully the bird was somewhat cooperative and hung around long enough for me to at least get some record shots in bad light.  This is the last common warbler species around the area that I had not yet tracked down in the yard despite a lot of looking.  In fact I have had several rarer warblers in the yard before I finally found a Blue winged Warbler.  Among the rarer warblers that the yard has produced include two Orange crowned Warblers, a Connecticut Warbler, two Mourning Warblers and rarest of all, a Kentucky Warbler.  I have now had a very impressive (in my book anyway) 29 species of warblers on our two acres of land...amazing what you can find if you look and have a decent selection of habitat diversity.

Canada Warbler, Pelham, MA, Aug 8, 2020

Northern Waterthrush, Belchertown, MA, Aug 8, 2020

Earlier today I hit a few spots around the local area and turned up a total of 16 species for the morning including a slightly late Louisiana Waterthrush and a few singing Canada Warblers.  Fall migration for warblers is certainly underway.

Warblers on the Prescott Peninsula

Common Yellowthroat, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jul 18, 2020

Common Yellowthroat, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jul 18, 2020

Pine Warbler, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jul 18, 2020

Ovenbird, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jul 18, 2020

Common Yellowthroat, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jul 18, 2020

Blackburnian Warbler, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jul 18, 2020

Yellow Warbler, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jul 18, 2020

Chestnut sided Warbler, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jul 18, 2020

American Redstart, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jul 18, 2020

I finally made it back onto the restricted access Prescott Peninsula to conduct some field surveys this morning and found some warblers along the way.  As we push into the third week of July the amount of song has been drastically reduced and the number of juvenile birds around has increased substantially.  I had a total of eleven species of warbler over the course of about two hours as I checked several fields and nearby areas.  No big surprises but that is not unexpected for this time of year.  There even seemed to be the beginnings of some mixed species flocks in a few areas as the post breeding dispersal and early fall migration begins.

Big warbler day to start July

Canada Warbler, Pelham, MA, Jul 1, 2020

Canada Warbler, Pelham, MA, Jul 1, 2020

Northern Waterthrush, Pelham, MA, Jul 1, 2020

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Cadwell Memorial Forest, Pelham, MA, Jul 1, 2020

Chestnut sided Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Jul 1, 202

With some rare days off to begin the month of July I decided to concentrate on finding as many species of warblers as I could to kick off the month.  Normally July is the slow period between the busy periods of spring and fall as migrants have all passed through, rarities are less likely and the birds that remain are busy feeding young.  In addition the numbers of birds singing drops off quite a bit as the month moves along.  I started off my morning by hiking up to the top of the mountain at Skinner SP in search of both Cerulean Warbler and Worm eating Warbler (which I found easily with multiple birds still singing).  I then hit several other spots as I worked my way up through Hadley and Amherst and then up to Pelham before dropping back down to Quabbin Park and a couple other spots in Belchertown.  I managed to find a total of 19 species of warblers over the course of the morning plus a continuing hybrid.  These species are all the breeding warblers one is likely to find during a typical year in Hamspshire County so I was happy to find all of them over the course of a single morning without too much effort.