A couple nights of decent migration brings in the birds

Black throated Blue Warbler, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 5, 2026

Blue Jay, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 5, 2026

Baltimore Oriole, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 5, 2026

White throated Sparrow, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 5, 2026

American Redstart, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, May 5, 2026

Bald Eagles, Quabbin Park, MA, May 5, 2026

The last couple nights have featured the best migration of the spring so far with loads of birds arriving including some rarities.  Yesterday I was guiding for a birder from India and we had a very productive morning. I birded a bit before I picked her up and then we started at the rail trail where we had a number of lifers for her and a few new species for me for the year here.  It was certainly obvious an influx of species had occurred overnight.  After about an hour and half along the rail trail we decided to head a bit south to Mitch's Way to look for more migrants and a Hooded Warbler.  We successful found more migrant species and heard the Hooded Warbler.  With the Hooded Warbler and an earlier Canada Warbler I ticked off two more species on my way to a warbler big year in the US.

Black and White Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 5, 2026

American Redstart, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 5, 2026

Northern Parula, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 5, 2026

As an indication of the influx I had three new warbler species at the water feature for the day.  

Black and White Warbler, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 6, 2026

Wilson's Warbler, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 6, 2026

Veery, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 6, 2026

Blue winged Warbler with black forehead, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 6, 2026

Brewster's Warbler, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 6, 2026

Gray Catbird, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 6, 2026

Eastern Towhee, Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, May 6, 2026

Blue winged Warbler, Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, May 6, 2026

Prairie Warbler, Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, May 6, 2026

Raccoon, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, May 6, 2026

Today was not as nice as yesterday with mainly overcast and breezy conditions until midday when rain got added to the mix for the rest of the day.  Although a bit too windy at times I still got out to cover a few areas and caught up with a few good ones today including the continued Hooded Warbler (still not photogenic, the Brewster's Warbler, an unusually plumaged Blue winged Warbler, two new species of warbler in the county for the year (Tennessee Warbler and Wilson's Warbler) and a total of six new species for me in the county for the year.  The main areas I hit for the morning before the rain included Mitch's Way, rail trail in Amherst and Herman Covey WMA.

Some birds for the first three days of May despite poor migration conditions

Brewster's Warbler, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 3, 2026

Orchard Oriole, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, May 3, 2026

Red winged Blackbird, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 3, 2026

Chestnut sided Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 2, 2026

Northern Yellow Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 2, 2026

Pine Warbler collecting nest material, Quabbin Park, MA, May 2, 2026

Eastern Towhee, Quabbin Park, MA, May 2, 2026

Gray Catbird, Quabbin Park, MA, May 2, 2026

Merlin, Quabbin Park, MA, May 2, 2026

Blue winged Warbler, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 1, 2026

Blue Jay, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, May 1, 2026

Chipping Sparrow, Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, May 1, 2026

Cerulean Warbler, Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, May 1, 2026

Worm eating Warbler, Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, May 1, 2026

Wild Columbine, Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, May 1, 2026

The first three days of May have overall been slower than usual for species with the weather being poor for migration with less than ideal winds, some bouts of rain and cool temps.  Nonetheless birds continue to push in as the desire to move north to breed can overcome some less than ideal conditions for migration.  To start off the month I headed out mainly looking for warblers and found some including my first Cerulean Warblers and Worm eating Warblers for the year.  I stayed mainly in the Hadley/Amherst area for morning and then spent the afternoon doing stuff around the yard.  Tuesday the 2nd started off rainy and I got as much birding in around Quabbin Park as the bouts of rain would allow.  Although birding conditions were tough at times, I did add one new warbler for my big warbler year in the US with a Chestnut sided Warbler that became warbler species #41 for the year.  With more north winds overnight I didn't expect to find too much this morning and was pleasantly surprised to have a number of good sightings including a Glossy Ibis I flushed out of a small pond at Silvio Conte NWR at Fort River, a Northern Harrier doing a courtship flight (also at Conte) and a Brewster's Warbler that showed up in the same spot in Amherst for a third year in a row and possibly a fourth year.  By mid morning it was getting too windy to see much and I headed home to take Wilson for a walk.  Overall not a terrible start to the month with 117 species so far for the county.

The next few nights look to feature some good migration conditions with strong southerly winds and some warm temps.  I expect a big influx of birds during the period before the weather turns less conducive for migration for multiple nights. 

April ends with some rain

Blackburnian Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 30, 2026

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 30, 2026

Black and White Warbler, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 29, 2026

Song Sparrow, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 29, 2026

Wood Ducks, Belchertown Land trust Trail, Belchertown, MA, Apr 29, 2026

Wilson relaxing after a walk, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 29, 2026

Broad winged Hawk, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 28, 2026

Red breasted Mergansers, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 28, 2026

Purple Finch, KC Trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 28, 2026

White tailed Deer, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 28, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 27, 2026

Field Sparrow, Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, Apr 27, 2026

April ended on a rather rainy note with rain in the morning and cool temps and then drizzle and overcast conditions for the remainder of the day.  I had hopes the rain would have downed some unusual species but no luck for me in finding any.  The previous few days were more pleasant with mainly sunny conditions and warmer temps although the winds were less than great for migration.  Nonetheless some birds continued to move into the area and each day featured the arrival of a few more species with no real big influx yet.  On Wednesday I did some guiding for a birder from India and we had a decent day with a few targets found for her.  Warblers have been slow to arrive in the typical numbers and diversity for the end of April although I did manage to add one more warbler species for the end of the year today despite the rain (more on warblers for April at the following post).  I found a total of 142 species in Hampshire County for the month which given the poor migration conditions recently and being away for just over a week in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona was quite good and fits in around average for the last ten years or so for me.  Now comes May and with it the big influx of migrants from the south moving north to breed for the summer.

Rufous Hummingbird in Amherst

Rufous Hummingbird, Amherst, MA, Apr 26, 2026

Rufous Hummingbird, Amherst, MA, Apr 26, 2026

Rufous Hummingbird, Amherst, MA, Apr 26, 2026

Rufous Hummingbird, Amherst, MA, Apr 26, 2026

 

Rufous Hummingbird, Amherst, MA, Apr 26, 2026

I took a brief break from my typical birding by stopping by Josh Rose's house in Amherst to hopefully catch a glimpse of a Rufous Hummingbird that showed up at his feeders a few days ago.  He initially reported it as an early arriving female Ruby throated Hummingbird.  The day after the report he contacted me with some slightly better photos that showed the bird was possibly a selasphorus species of some type (Rufous or Allen's Hummingbird being the most likely).  His photos were not great so I stopped by a couple days ago to try to see the bird and get some photos however the bird never made an appearance.  Josh continued to try to get some photos and eventually he got some better ones that clearly showed it was not a Ruby throated Hummingbird.  He had a few people come by before I could get there today and Brian Z. got some great tail spread photos that confirmed the identification to Rufous Hummingbird.  At this point Josh made the decision to release the sighting to the general birding public...a tough decision to make with a rarity that shows up in your yard in a crowded neighborhood.  He let his neighbors know about the likely influx of birders and spelled out as well as possible the actions any interested birders should make if they wanted to try for this rarity to limited disruption to both his house and the general area.  With all this in mind I decided to swing by briefly this morning before the hordes would inevitably descend.  When I arrived Joe was already there as was another birder and quickly followed by a few more birders.  I had a decent look at the feeder in the front yard from my car and after a wait of perhaps 15 minutes the hummingbird made a visit to the feeder and I got a few distant photos.  I left not long after as to not be a pest to the neighborhood and free up a prime spot to view the bird for someone else.  This is only second Rufous Hummingbird I have seen in Hampshire County with my first being one that visited a feeder at a private home (also in Amherst) back on October 20th, 2012 (when Ian, Jacob and Keenan were still college students).  This western species is exceedingly rare in the county (and in all of western Massachusetts) and almost all other records pertain to individuals showing up in fall.  Spring records for the state overall are quite rare.  Other county records for the species in eBird include the one mentioned above in October of 2012, one in South Hadley in late October into early November 2005, one in Amherst from September-October 2002, multiple years of "Ruffie" overwintering at Tom Gagnon's residence in Northampton in the late 1990's and another in Northampton in September 1995.  I'm certain there are some earlier records but I could not find any.  In the end it is an exceedingly rare species in the county with spring records even more so.

Magnolia Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 26, 2026

Magnolia Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 26, 2026

Magnolia Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 26, 2026

Magnolia Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 26, 2026

Blue headed Vireo, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 26, 2026

Butterfly species, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 26, 2026

Other birding stops for the morning produced a variety of species including the continued record early Magnolia Warbler I found yesterday in Quabbin Park plus a noticeable increase in Blue headed Vireos at multiple locations.  I also noticed that I recently submitted my 60,000th complete eBird list with a trip to Quabbin Gate 5 yesterday...a nice place to reach a milestone list.