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| Brewster's Warbler, UMASS Amherst, MA, May 11, 2014 |
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| Brewster's Warbler, UMASS Amherst, MA, May 11, 2014 |
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| Brewster's Warbler, UMASS Amherst, MA, May 11, 2014 |
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| Brewster's Warbler, UMASS Amherst, MA, May 11, 2014 |
I started off this beautiful sunny day at UMASS around dawn on
Orchard Hill. Although not a banner day for that location still some good stuff
around including my first of the year Eastern Wood Pewee (#193) near the old
observatory, three species of vireo, lots of catbirds, 16 species of warbler
including two Wilson's Warblers plus good numbers of Wood Thrush, Rose breasted
Grosbeak and Baltimore Oriole among nearly sixty species. As I was leaving that
area I ran into a Hampshire Bird Club group just heading in...hopefully they had
some good luck there. I then headed over to the northwest side of campus and
started out the stop right with a Solitary Sandpiper in a small rain puddle. I then
walked along one of the roads there and managed to find myself a rare Brewster's
Warbler (a hybrid of a Blue winged Warbler and a Golden winged Warbler). It was
singing a typical Blue winged Warbler song which is why I always check every
Blue winged Warbler I hear in the hopes of finding a hybrid. I have had some luck before finding hybrids of Blue winged and Golden winged Warblers...see the links below for some of my encounters and photos:
A decent selection
of species during my hour there with 13 species of warbler (or 13.5 if you give the Brewster's Warbler a half species point) among 44 species. After my productive time at UMASS I
headed over to the rail trail to check out the mudflat at Hop Brook in the
hopes of finding some unusual shorebirds. Nothing too unusual there but did
find five species of shorebird including a couple Killdeer, a Spotted Sandpiper,
four Solitary Sandpipers, a Greater Yellowlegs and 13 Least Sandpiper. Among
the other expected species there I ran across a Bay breasted Warbler.
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| Rose breasted Grosbeak, Silvio Conte NWR, Hadley, MA, May 11, 2014 |
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| Broad winged Hawk, Silvio Conte NWR, Hadley, MA, May 11, 2014 |
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| Blue winged Warbler, Silvio Conte NWR, Hadley, MA, May 11, 2014 |
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| Lincoln's Sparrow, Silvio Conte NWR, Hadley, MA, May 11, 2014 |
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| Bobolinks, Silvio Conte NWR, Hadley, MA, May 11, 2014 |
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| Muskrat, Silvio Conte NWR, Hadley, MA, May 11, 2014 |
Once I
was done at the rail trail I had to decide about heading back over to Quabbin or
hit Silvio Conte NWR in Hadley. I decided against Quabbin as it can get just so
damn crowded on a weekend...so it was off to Hadley instead. Lots of Bobolink
as well as meadowlark and Savannah Sparrow activity in the fields before the
stables. The trails were a bit slow in places but I still had some decent
activity as the winds continued to increase. The best bird was a Lincoln's
Sparrow (#194) which popped up briefly not to be seen again. I was on my way
out of that location when Devin and Rae and family arrived so I stayed a bit
longer with them exploring some of the trails once again. I finally headed for
home and arrived around noon to be greeted by a mixed species flock which
included a singing Cape May Warbler...the second one at the house this
spring!
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| Cerulean Warbler, Quabbin Park, May 11, 2014 |
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| Cerulean Warbler, Quabbin Park, May 11, 2014 |
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| Scarlet Tanagers, Quabbin Park, May 11, 2014 |
Later in the afternoon I decided to make a quick run through the hordes of people at Quabbin Park in the hopes of finding the Hooded Warbler seen there yesterday. No luck with that warbler but I did find the male Cerulean Warbler in roughly the same spot it has been for several days now despite the parade like procession of car and motorcycles passing by. Finished the day with 21.5 species of warblers...my best warbler day yet this spring.
Links for the lists today:
UMASS Orchard Hill
UMASS NW campus
Rail trail Amherst
Silvio Conte NWR-Hadley
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