More Mourning Warblers and unusual Blue winged Warblers plus lots of other stuff the last several days

Mourning Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 23, 2017

Mourning Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 23, 2017

Mourning Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 23, 2017

Mourning Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 21, 2017

Mourning Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 21, 2017

I had a great run of Mourning Warblers during the end of May into early June. My best day was May 23rd when I ran across three individuals at Quabbin Park (the most I have ever had in a single day around here). In staying with the topic of Mourning Warblers I got in contact with a researcher (Dr Jay Pitocchelli) in New Hampshire who is continuing to study the regional variations in the songs of these warblers. My recordings revealed that the Mourning Warblers coming through here represent two of the four distinct vocal groups, the eastern and Nova Scotia groups (the other groups being western and Newfoundland). A link to the study can be found here (at least the link should work for about a month):  http://www.anselm.edu/homepage/jpitocch/MOWAsongvar.pdf

Blue winged Warbler, Amherst College Wildlife Sanctuary, Amherst, MA, May 25, 2017

Blue winged x Golden winged Warbler hybrid, Quabbin Park, MA, May 23, 2017

On Thursday after getting out of work and just as the rain started falling again I stopped at the Amherst College Wildlife Sanctuary to follow up on an odd Blue winged Warbler call that someone heard the day before. After a bit of searching I came across the individual singing a three part 'bee buzz buzz' song but the bird looked like a typical Blue winged Warbler. I have attached the list from that morning here which contains audio, video and photos: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S37132541
Although I was hoping to find something unusual like a hybrid or even a Golden winged Warbler I had no such luck but it was still interesting to hear the unusual call. This sighting just adds to my run of unusual and hybrid Blue winged/Golden winged Warblers. The hybrid also continues in the same area at Quabbin Park.

Scarlet Tanager, Quabbin Park, MA, May 23, 2017

Indigo Bunting, Quabbin Park, MA, May 23, 2017

Blackpoll Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 23, 2017

Yellow throated Vireo, Quabbin Park, MA, May 21, 2017

Yellow billed Cuckoo, Quabbin Gate 12, Pelham, MA, May 21, 2017

Veery, Quabbin Gate 12, Pelham, MA, May 21, 2017

Lots of other birds around with less and less in the way of obvious migrants and more and more birds on territory to breed.  It also continues to be a good year for cuckoos..taking advantage of a bumper crop of caterpillars for sure.

The rain that started Thursday continued through Friday along with cooler than normal temperatures. I tried my luck in turning up stuff downed by the weather but came up empty.