Breeding in full swing including Cerulean Warbler cooperative breeding

Cerulean Warbler male with leg bands and female with nestlings, Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, Jun 17, 2026

Cerulean Warbler adult male without bands with nestlings, Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, Jun 17, 2026

Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Jun 16, 2026

Virginia Rail fledgling, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Jun 16, 2026

Common Ravens, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jun 15, 2026

Worm eating Warbler, Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, Jun 14, 2026

Looking southwest from peak, Skinner SP, South Hadley, MA, Jun 14, 2026

As mid June arrives and the longest days of the year are upon us here in western Massachusetts breeding activity rapidly reaches its peak.  Loads of species are on nest, feeding nestlings or feeding nestlings.  The next few weeks will bring more of the same as the next generation of many species head out into the big (and at times cruel) world.  A highlight for me today was seeing a Cerulean Warbler nest at Skinner SP being tended by two males and a female (cooperative breeding with this species is extremely rare).  

MAPS banding program in Hadley

Blue winged Warbler after banding, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Jun 5, 2026

Common Yellowthroat during banding process, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Jun 12, 2026

Common Yellowthroat after banding, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Jun 12, 2026

I made another visit to the MAPS banding program in Hadley this warm, humid morning and got to see a number of birds get banded.  The MAPS program (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship) consists of multiple banding locations throughout Canada and the US that collect data on breeding species.  The only location in the area is the banding location at the Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River in Hadley.  I made a visit to the location last Friday and returned again today.  Always interesting to see the species that get captured each week with the most common species being Veery, Wood Thrush and Gray Catbird.  The best species in my mind are the warblers that have gotten captured with a Blue winged Warbler last week and a Common Yellowthroat this week.  The banding takes place roughly once a week through the end of July.

Another trip onto the Prescott Peninsula for surveys

Moose, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jun 8, 2026

Yellow throated Vireo, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jun 8, 2026

Chestnut sided Warbler, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jun 8, 2026

Cedar Waxwing, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jun 8, 2026

I made another morning trip up to the Prescott Peninsula to conduct more field bird surveys.  Today I was joined by four students from Smith College to conduct the surveys and show them the protocols for the surveys.  I was running a bit ahead of their arrival so I went it to get a couple quick surveys completed before we met up.  As I was headed back to the gate to meet them I ran across a pair of Moose lazily eating from maple leaves.  Always fun to see any Moose and two together is even better.  Once we all met up we spent about three hours on the peninsula.  Although we didn't see any more Moose we did see a Black Bear to add to the large mammal tally for the day.  We had some evidence of breeding at multiple stops it was overall slow in adding positive data on breeding.  Nonetheless it was a beautiful morning and we had some interesting sightings including at least one flyover Red Crossbill and a family of Ruffed Grouse right along the side of the road.  

Breeding Bird Survey completed this morning

Great Blue Heron, Breeding bird survey stop #9, Ware, MA, Jun 6, 2026

White tailed Deer, Breeding bird survey stop #21, Palmer, MA, Jun 6, 2026

Prairie Warbler, Breeding bird survey stop #34, Monson, MA, Jun 6, 2026

Northern Yellow Warbler, Breeding bird survey stop #40, Monson, MA, Jun 6, 2026

Sawmill Brook, Breeding bird survey stop #42, Monson, MA, Jun 6, 2026

Farm fields, Breeding bird survey stop #31, Monson, MA, Jun 6, 2026

UMASS orchard, Breeding bird survey stop #3, Belchertown, MA, Jun 6, 2026

Although I usually try to run by annual breeding bird survey route on a Sunday the forecast looked better for Saturday so I ran it today.  With our weekends always seeming to produce less than stellar weather I did not want to take a chance and wait for a later Sunday in June.  Breeding bird surveys are long term studies to look at breeding species along a 25 mile route with three minute stops every 1/2 mile.  The survey starts early (4:42AM) so being a morning person certainly helps!  This was my 17th consecutive year conducting this route that starts in Belchertown and continues south to the Connecticut state line.  Although not a record breaking year for species I still had a good showing with a total of 75 species.  The top five species as far as being recorded at the most stops included  American Robin (40 stops), Gray Catbird (31 stops), Ovenbird (30 stops), American Crow (29 stops) and Red eyed Vireo (28 stops).  No new species for the route this year so my total whole conducting the route still stands at 114 species.  Full trip report at the following link: BBS 2026 trip report.

Below is table of each year I have conducted the survey with # of species seen and date of survey

year            # of species            date of survey 

2010             71                         June 20 

2011             64                         June 26 

2012             56                         June 3 

2013             67                         June 23 

2014             70                         June 15 

2015             75                         June 14 

2016             78                         June 19 

2017             73                         June 22 

2018             71                         June 22 

2019             83                         June 9 

2020             76                         June 14 

2021             71                         June 19 

2022             78                         June 5 

2023             77                         June 25 

2024             84                         June 2

2025             77                         June 8

2026             75                         June 6

An oddly plumaged bright yellow Scarlet Tanager found while conducting field bird surveys on the Prescott Peninsula

Scarlet Tanager with pigment issue, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jun 4, 2026

Scarlet Tanager with pigment issue, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jun 4, 2026

Scarlet Tanager with pigment issue, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jun 4, 2026

Scarlet Tanager with pigment issue, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jun 4, 2026

Scarlet Tanager with pigment issue, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jun 4, 2026

Scarlet Tanager with pigment issue, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jun 4, 2026

Prairie Warbler, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jun 4, 2026

Indigo Bunting, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jun 4, 2026

Black capped Chickadee carrying food to nest, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jun 4, 2026

Black capped Chickadee nest, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jun 4, 2026

Post burn, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jun 4, 2026

First post surgery walk for Wilson, Belchertown, MA, Jun 4, 2026

I made it on to the restricted Prescott Peninsula at Quabbin to conduct the first of my field bird surveys for the year.  It is part of an ongoing study of the small remaining fragments of farm fields left on the peninsula.  On the vast peninsula some of these small fields hold the only populations of a number of species of bird on the peninsula that require more open areas.  It was beautiful weather with clear skies, no wind and low humidity.  I started my surveys a little before five and then stayed on the peninsula for the next two and half hours completing most of the field locations.  The usually most productive and largest field recently had a prescribed burn done.  It will be interesting to see the impact (if any) that comes from the burn.  Most of the species I would expect to be present were indeed present so no major impact for this year beyond the density of a few species are lower likely due to a reduction in available cover and breeding locations.  One of the oddest finds happened while surveying the fields where an old observatory once stood.  I saw a yellow bird flying high from tree to another and expected it to be an oriole but instead I saw a bright yellow overall bird with jet black wings...a male Scarlet Tanager with some type of pigment issue.  The yellow was not the dull yellow of a fall plumaged bird but instead seemed more like the bright yellow one would see on a Western Tanager.  I have seen a few adult male Scarlet Tanager over the years that have a less vibrant red color, to the point of looking more orange.  The individual today was unlike any I have ever seen.  I poked around a bit to see what I could find regarding the likelihood of this plumage abnormality and did not find much.  David Sibley wrote a short article about it...link here: yellow Scarlet Tanager and it is interesting he lives not too far away and his article also mentioned another one in Washington, MA the same year.  Perhaps this area of western Massachusetts hosts a population more inclined to have this abnormality?   A very cool looking individual and one I hope to relocate on subsequent surveys.  I made a couple other stops before heading home to pick up Wilson for his first real post surgery walk and he did well.

Great Cormorant to start off June

Great Cormorant, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Jun 1, 2026

Great Cormorant and Double Crested Cormorant, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Jun 1, 2026

Great Cormorant, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Jun 1, 2026

Eastern Towhee, Quabbin Park, MA, Jun 1, 2026

American Redstart, Quabbin Park, MA, Jun 1, 2026

Hooded Mergansers, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Jun 1, 2026

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jun 1, 2026

June started out with some great birds around and I was able to catch up with one rarity plus lots of other stuff.  Normally to start out a new month I would be out the door before dawn to add new species for the month but Wilson had surgery on Saturday and is still having some issues so I stuck around home until I knew my boy was good (he is slowly improving).  Eventually I made it out and made a few stops including a spot in Ware, Quabbin Park and Lake Wallace before I returned home.  Early in the afternoon I saw some reports of rarities including a Red necked Phalarope in the river in Hadley and then a Great Cormorant at the Holyoke Dam (found by Ted).  With Wilson doing better I decided to try for the Great Cormorant as I figured that would be the more likely rarity to be relocated.  I drove down to the dam arriving a little after one and walked to just above the dam to scan the buoys.  The Great Cormorant was the last of the cormorants in line perched on the numerous buoys.  Even without looking at other field marks the size difference compared to the multiple Double crested Cormorants was readily apparent.  I got a series of photos and videos through the scope and then let other know the bird was still present.  Great Cormorant is a rare species inland in Massachusetts and even rarer in spring with most records being in the later part of fall with only one spring record before today (at least in eBird).  This is only my fourth Hampshire County record of the species with the others being October 2004 at Arcadia, October 2008 at Quabbin Gate 5 and November of last year at Winsor Dam.  There are other recent fall records for the species in the area but I missed those as I was out of the country when they showed up.  Despite not being able to cover as many areas as I typically would to start off the month I still managed 97 species for the day...not too bad as far I'm concerned.

Poverty Mountain bird survey ends out May

Red tailed Hawk, Pelham, MA, May 31, 2026

Eastern Phoebe, Pelham, MA, May 31, 2026

Common Yellowthroat, Shutesbury, MA, May 31, 2026

Pink Ladyslippers, Pelham, MA, May 31, 2026

Adams Brook, Shutesbury, MA, May 31, 2026

As is always the case May has gone by too fast and I ended the month assisting with the 21st year of the Poverty Mountain bird survey at Kevin and Cynthia's fantastic property in the corner of Amherst, Pelham and Shutesbury.  I stuck around the house longer than usual this morning to make sure Wilson was doing well enough after some surgery he had yesterday.  It was a tough afternoon and overnight for him (and us) but he had improved quite a bit so I headed out for a few hours to assist with the count.  It was not the highest count but not too bad given the cold weather to start the day.  I found a total of 50 species for the count and I'm sure a few other species got added by others elsewhere.  

Eastern Bluebird nestlings, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 31, 2026

Hooded Merganser eggs in duck box #2, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 31, 2026

Eastern Bluebird fledglings, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 31, 2026

Once back home late in the morning I checked the nest boxes and found some very freshly hatched Eastern Bluebirds and the Hooded Merganser still sitting on eggs in duck box #2.  I also have a Gray Catbird on a nest in some of the low bushes near the house.  A check of the camera on the water feature turned up a number of captures including at least three Eastern Bluebird fledglings.

Overall the month was fairly productive with 168 species in Hampshire County, which is slightly below usual but it did produce my first new Hampshire County species for the year with a Loggerhead Shrike a couple days ago.