I made a very rare trip out of Hampshire County this morning and headed east to Worcester County in search of a Yellow throated Warbler that has been coming into feeders at a private residence in Lancaster. Apparently the bird has been present at the location for about two weeks now and word got out to birders a few days ago and the homeowner has graciously been willing to allow birders to come by to check it out. I contacted the homeowner and he was fine with me coming by early in the morning on Christmas Eve to try my luck at finding the bird. This was really the only morning I would have available to try so I was extra thankful that I got permission to come by. With the forecast of strong winds, heavy rain and fairly warm temperatures (50's) from later on Christmas Eve into Christmas day and then a big drop in temperatures there is a chance the bird will move on and I didn't want to miss my chance to see it so I was on the road before sunrise this morning. I arrived a bit after seven with the sun just starting to come up among a broken cloud deck and temperatures right around freezing. It was a very smooth trip to the location and directions from both the homeowner and a fellow birder who had previously seen the bird were spot on and I found six well marked parking spots right in front of the garage at the location. I got out of the car and almost immediately had at least two Red Crossbills flyover calling. I checked out the feeders at both the front and rear of the house and the feeders featured a variety of feed for the birds from seed to suet to pine cones covered in peanut butter. I set up the scope and trained it on the rear feeders and stood in a spot where I could monitor both sets of feeders at the same time. Birds were coming in and out of the feeders fairly regularly but I had no sign of the target bird until a bit after eight when a large group of American Goldfinches descended on the feeders and were joined by the Yellow throated Warbler. The bird came in first to the front feeders and I fired off a number of shots with the camera before the bird got flushed by other birds and it flew to the rear feeders. I then got some great looks through the scope and a number of shots with the iPhone through the scope. The bird then dropped off the feeders and disappeared. I stayed for perhaps another ten minutes or so but the bird didn't return. I was the only birder present for the entire time I was there which was not totally unexpected as it was quite early and many of the local birders had already seen the bird. Although I have seen this species on many occasions in the south I have never seen one in the state (bringing my state warbler total to 36). The species shows with some regularity along the coast and the cape but is quite rare inland into central and western Massachusetts. I have certainly tried hard to find the species in Hampshire County but so far have not had any luck.
Thanks again to the homeowner for allowing me to visit and see the bird...a nice way to spend a Christmas Eve morning if I can't be in the tropics!
