May day birding

Tree Swallow, Arcadia, May 1, 2013

Tree Swallow, Arcadia, May 1, 2013

Wood Thrush at top of tree, UMASS-Amherst, May 1, 2013

On yet another in a string of sunny and warm days I headed out to see what I might find. I started off predawn at the rail trail in Amherst looking for marsh birds and owls. I had at least one Virginia Rail calling as well as at least two Great Horned Owls. I then headed over to the UMASS stadium marsh where I had yet another Virginia Rail calling. With the temperature slowing starting to warm up from its low in the upper 30's I headed to the northwest part of campus to try to catch up with some migrants. Nothing too unusual but some recent migrants have picked up in number with several Wood Thrush around with one singing at the very top of a 75' tree..strange. When I was about as far away from the car as I could be I got a text and message about a Golden winged Warbler seen at Arcadia. Given the rarity of this species in the area I decided to give it a try and head over to try to find it. It had flown away not long after being discovered but I figured it might still be in the area. Despite a lot of looking at Arcadia, the nearby neighborhood and some nearby conservation land I was unable to find the bird. It appears it moved on to locations unknown. There were a few other migrants around but not too many. I did manage to add one new species when I found a Great crested Flycatcher (#168) near Hurlburts Pond. After my unsuccessful quest for the Golden winged Warbler I headed back toward home to pick up Wilson and head out for a walk at Covey WMA. Around midday I headed up to a few areas on the west side of Quabbin but the areas were actually very quiet with little activity.