With great migration conditions overnight and an estimated 2.1 million birds having crossed Hampshire County (according to Birdcast) I had high hopes for the day. I was once again up early thanks to my back and was out the door before five. I decided to head to Hadley along the river and although I had some birds, it was not as active as I had hoped it would be. I then decided to head back to the rail trail in Amherst where I had a Brewster's Warbler yesterday and the walking is easy. The radar showed rain rapidly approaching but I knew I had a little time to get a walk in before it arrived. As I walked along the paved path I heard a few Blue winged Warblers and all appeared to indeed be Blue winged in appearance although there was one individual I could not get a look at. I then ran across the Blue winged x Golden winged Warbler hybrid I first found on May 1st. It was once again less than cooperative for photos and I had to be content with a few marginal photos. I then caught back up with the Brewster's Warbler as well as the Blue winged Warbler singing a Golden winged like song that I had yesterday. I wanted to walk even further down the trail but with the radar showing rain rapidly approaching I decided to head back toward the car and follow up on a Blue winged Warbler song I heard on the way in that I was never able to get a look at. After a little effort I got a look at it just as the rain started to come down and I was pleasantly surprised to see it was yet another hybrid. This individual looked to be a backcross of a Brewster's Warbler as it had some gray in areas including the face and flanks. It was singing a typical Blue winged Warbler like song despite its appearance being what it was. The rain continued to increase so I headed back to the car. Heavy rain then followed and I picked up some more meds before heading home.
The rain then become more spotty and I decided to head to Quabbin Park where I dodged on and off rain for a couple hours. I once again had the Cerulean Warbler in the area I found it two days ago. I then concentrated on Blue winged Warblers once again and came across a bird that sang a very Golden winged Warbler like song and after much effort I got some looks at it and it showed no signs of hybridization, despite its odd song. I got to spend some time with it, along with another male Blue winged Warbler and got to see lots of interaction between the two as they chased each other around and seemed oblivious to my presence. I ended the day with a total of twenty species of warblers plus the multiple hybrids.
The camera at the water feature continues to capture warblers and the last several days have captured four species (Yellow rumped Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Black and White Warbler and American Redstart). The yard for the month has produced 16 species so far.
