Monday, January 25, 2021

Journey to the eastern part of the state for warblers (and others)


Townsend's Warbler, Sagamore Beach, MA, Jan 25, 2021
Common Eider, Sagamore Beach, MA, Jan 25, 2021
Common Eiders, Sagamore Beach, MA, Jan 25, 2021
White winged Scoter, Sagamore Beach, MA, Jan 25, 2021
Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Sagamore Beach, MA, Jan 25, 2021

After a couple of planned attempts over the last week or two that I had to be cancelled for a variety of reasons I finally made a trip down to the eastern part of the state to catch up with some rare warblers.  My main target was a long staying Townsend's Warbler that has been coming to feeders in a neighborhood in the southeast part of the state (seeing it would add a new warbler species to ones I have seen in the state).  I also wanted to catch up with some other unusual species of warblers I have previously seen on earlier trips with including Yellow throated Warbler and Tennessee Warbler.  I left the house this morning well before dawn to make the roughly two hour drive and arrive near dawn.  I did indeed make it down before dawn and I immediately started looking for the warbler (as well as other unusual species that have been around).  Initially it was too dark, cold and breezy to expect to see the warbler so I checked out some nearby waterfowl including loads of Common Eiders.  Once the sun started coming out in earnest I stayed in the area where the warbler had been previously reported in the backyards of a few houses.  I only had a limited view of a promising looking backyard but after a bit of a wait I got a look (and some distant photos of the bird)...state warbler species #37.  Not long before I saw the warbler I had brief looks at an Ash throated Flycatcher which has also been hanging around the same area.  After looks at the warbler I tried briefly to relocate the flycatcher to get photos but no luck.  I really wanted to get moving to try to catch up with some other warblers so I left that area and headed back west with my next stop being an unproductive stop for a Pine Warbler that has been coming to a feeder in a private yard in Worcester County.  After almost an hour of waiting the bird never showed so I moved on to my next stop looking for the Yellow throated Warbler.

Yellow throated Warbler, Lancaster, MA, Jan 25, 2021

I arrived at the private residence a little before eleven.  I kept scanning the feeders in both the front and back yards from a vantage point that allowed one to see both sets of feeders and was rewarded with decent looks of the bird after about fifteen minutes of waiting.  

Tennessee Warbler, Athol, MA, Jan 25, 2021
Tennessee Warbler, Athol, MA, Jan 25, 2021

My final stop on my morning warbler search was to Athol to see the continued Tennessee Warbler.  Once again this bird was seen right away and provided great looks as it fed constantly at some well stocked feeders.  It is truly amazing to see this species trying to overwinter (so far successfully) this far north.  This bird should be in Central American at this time (as should I!) and it is not a species that is typically found anywhere in the United States in the winter.  Overall for the morning I saw a total of four species of warblers plus some other good stuff.  A thanks to all those who provided information on the Townsend's Warbler and to those who allowed visitors to their yards to check out these unusual warblers.

A much more detailed report from the day in regards to warblers can be found at the following link.

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