I was out this morning in search of warblers and I had some great luck with a total of 16 species for the morning with the highlight by far being two Connecticut Warblers (much more on warblers the last few days at the following link). I started the morning at a rather foggy Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River where I had at least five American Woodcocks flying around before dawn. I also had a couple Wood Thrushes plus some Swainson's Thrushes calling early. Otherwise it was fairly quiet so I moved on to some spots along the river in Hadley and these areas proved to be more productive. The fog in these areas was not as thick and the increased sunshine increased bird activity. My first stop produced a nice mixed species flock with nine species of warbler. My next stop produced my first Connecticut Warbler of the morning but I only managed to hear it and it never popped into view. Other highlights at my second stop along the river including a late Yellow Warbler and at least nine Indigo Buntings (including a few singing). I then headed home to pick up Wilson to go for a walk where we had a few more birds but nothing too unusual. After we finished our walk I discussed the day with Wilson and we decided I would head back out for a little longer to finish out the morning. Although the wind had picked up a bit, the sun came out from time to time and warmed things up. I walked for around an hour and this produced my second Connecticut Warbler of the morning and my first one this season that showed itself for more than a few seconds. I had a large mixed flock and within the flock I heard the distinct call of a Connecticut Warbler. The bird eventually popped up a bit and allowed for some photos. I was very happy to finally get some decent looks at Connecticut Warbler for the fall.
Sunday I had a good portion of the morning available so I headed over to Arcadia arriving before dawn and then spending at little over four hours covering multiple locations. I had several highlights including the following: at least three American Woodcocks flying around before dawn, eight species of raptors, groups of Blue Jays migrating past, eleven House Wrens, at least three Wood Thrushes, multiple Purple Finches flying over, eight species of sparrows with a Grasshopper Sparrow and around twenty Lincoln's Sparrows and a dozen species of warblers among some 77 species overall.
On Saturday I stayed close to home as I had limited times before other commitments for the day. I started before dawn at Quabbin Park where I managed to turn up a late Virginia Rail (no luck with a very late Eastern Whip Poor Will but given the great migration conditions lately I was not surprised to come up empty on that quest). After Quabbin I spent an hour and a half in Ware where the highlights including groups of Blue Jays migrating past, a couple Wood Thrush, three Tennessee Warblers and at least half a dozen Cape May Warblers (easily my highest count of the season for the species...I had only had three individuals until Saturday). I also spent a little time at Winsor Dam where I had hundreds of Blue Jays migrating as well as groups of Canada Geese moving on the strong north winds.
After work on Friday morning I headed over to the nearby East Meadows where I spent a couple hours walking the fields. The wind made finding stuff a bit tough but it was nice to be outside after another busy work shift. Highlights including a couple flyby Black bellied Plovers.
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