Weekend birding brings a couple new arrivals

Black and White Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 24, 2016

Field Sparrow, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Apr 24, 2016

Brown Thrasher, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Apr 24, 2016

Pine Warbler, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 24, 2016

Blue Jay building nest, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 24, 2016

Pileated Woodpecker, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 24, 2016

Another crisp cool morning with bright sunny skies found me trying a few spots in the south Quabbin area trying for whip poor wills and marsh birds. It was a little too breezy at some spots and quite cool so I struck out on finding anything interesting. I decided to head over to the rail trail to try to find some sunny spots that might attract some birds and I had some decent luck with some good photo ops. I also found a Green Heron (#133) to add to the county list this year. After the rail trail I headed over to Silvio Conte NWR in Hadley and then eventually over to a small section of Quabbin Park. Not a blockbuster day but very nice nonetheless. Full lists with additional photos below.

Rail trail-Amherst:  http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S29163036

Silvio Conte NWR:  http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S29163739

Quabbin Park:  http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S29164796

Black and White Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 23, 2016

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 23, 2016

On Saturday I headed out right at dawn to try to catch up with some marsh birds but could not find anything beyond Virginia Rail in the spots I checked. I checked Lake Wallace plus a few small marshes around Quabbin. I also checked Winsor Dam and Beaver Lake looking for unusual waterfowl but found none. I did spend a fair amount of time checking Quabbin Park and was rewarded with my first Black and White Warblers (#132) of the year plus ever increasing numbers of Blue gray Gnatcatchers, Pine Warblers, Yellow rumped Warblers, Chipping Sparrows and Eastern Towhees as well as others. Ended the morning with five species of warblers...just a taste of what is to come over the next few weeks. The morning was cloudy (which made photography tough) but eventually the sun broke out around midday.

American Robin on motion camera, Belchertown, MA, Apr 23, 2016

I also recently set up a small water feature to attract more birds (mainly inspired by a similar set up Steve M. has that attracted a Lawrence's Warbler last year). I just set up a motion camera on it yesterday and the first bird that I managed to capture was an American Robin. Blue Jays and White throated Sparrows showed up today. It will be interesting to see what shows up when I'm not looking.