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.

A record early Magnolia Warbler for me today plus a few other new arrivals despite lackluster migration conditions

Magnolia Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 25, 2026

Ovenbird, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 25, 2026

Merlin, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 25, 2026

Blue gray Gnatcatcher, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 25, 2026

Wild Turkey, Quabbin Gate 5, Belchertown, MA, Apr 25, 2026

Barred Owl, Quabbin Gate 5, Belchertown, MA, Apr 25, 2026

Although I didn't expect to get a whole lot this morning given the ongoing poor migration conditions the bird gods shined down on me a bit for my birthday with a record early Magnolia Warbler at Quabbin Park.  Before going to Quabbin Park I took a walk at Gate 5.  The weather was a bit cool with temps in the upper 30's with a slight north wind...at least it was sunny.  Nothing too unusual at Gate 5 although always fun to see turkeys displaying and have Blue Jays going crazy due to a Barred Owl showing itself.  Once I made it to the park I started adding species and had some decent counts of a variety of species including Yellow bellied Sapsuckers, Purple Finches (lots around the last several days), Eastern Towhees and Pine Warblers.  I had the pair of Merlins that are likely going to nest again in the area.  I then started getting some warbler variety as I continued walking with a Northern Yellow Warbler and then the Magnolia Warbler.  I was not expecting to find the species today but I heard it sing and immediately recognized it and knew it was very early so got some recordings and eventually some photos.  The species usually starts arriving in the area in early May and to get one this early is very unusual, especially with poor migration conditions.  My previous early date for the species in the county was April 29th back in 2011...a long standing record for me.  It was my best day for warbler diversity in the area so far this year with eight species total.  

Southeast Arizona for more warblers and other stuff -April 12-15

Grace's Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Red faced Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Virginia's Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Sunrise, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Yellow eyed Junco, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Olive Warbler, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Pygmy Nuthatch, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Cassin's Vireo, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Steller's Jay, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Painted Redstart, Mount Lemmon, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

Wilson's Phalaropes, Green Valley WTP, Green Valley, AZ, Apr 12, 2026

The final leg of my trip involved continuing west to Arizona with the goal being to track down three more target warblers (and a few other species hopefully). With my body still on east coast time I was up early yet again, which was advantageous given that I like to get to places early. Sunday would be the last day of making long drives on this trip. My final destination would be an Airbnb in Green Valley where I would be spending three nights. I had a few ideas on what to do with my day before arriving at my lodging and I settled on driving directly to Mount Lemmon with the goal of potentially tracking down the last three warbler targets for the trip (Grace’s Warbler, Virginia’s Warbler and Red faced Warbler). All three species have been seen in the area recently so I had at least a chance of finding them. Traffic is usually the lightest on Sunday and I hoped it would work to my advantage in making the nearly four hour drive to the area on the mountain where the warblers have been reported and arriving early before crowds arrived. I got to the mountain right around dawn and my first stop was Incinerator Ridge and the wind I noticed on the drive up continued. In fact it stayed windy all day and it made for some tough spotting of birds at times. I was surprised to see so many people tent camping at the location…it must have been a very restless night of sleeping with the strong winds. I got all three of my targets at the location so still a productive stop despite the wind. The ridge itself was really windy and cold so after trying it for a bit I retreated down the road to get out of the worst of the wind. I ran into a decent mixed flock once I was almost to my car and this added several species for the day. After a couple of hours at the location I decided to try my luck elsewhere and with hordes of people driving further up I headed down to a dirt road known as Sollers Road and this was another good choice as I had lots of stuff in a mixed flock including better looks at a lot of the stuff I had earlier. I spent a hour and half plus sorting through the birds and getting lots more photos. A few more brief stops on the way down didn’t turn up anything else new. It was nearing midday so I look a lunch break and got permission to check in a little early. I did do a little more birding before heading to Airbnb with the main stop being wastewater treatment facility that produced a variety of waterfowl and shorebirds including a large group of Wilson’s Phalarope. By the early afternoon I was beat and decided to relax a bit plus the wind just made the birding tough. 

Broad billed Hummingbird, Santa Rite Lodge, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 13, 2026

Grace's Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 13, 2026

Mexican Jay, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 13, 2026

Black throated Sparrow, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 13, 2026

Black headed Grosbeak, Santa Rita Lodge, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 13, 2026

Hermit Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 13, 2026

Northern Shovelers, Ring necked Duck and American Coot, Green Valley WTP, Green Valley, AZ, Apr 13, 2026

As forecast the winds of the previous day continued on Monday and by the end of the day were even stronger. As I knew I would be up well before dawn I had to come up with a plan to try to make the most of my time in spite of the wind. At least in the morning it was a little lighter. I decided on heading down to Montosa Canyon to listen for a Buff collared Nightjar. I arrived around 4:15AM to find it quite breezy with a few lulls every now and then and after about ten minutes I heard the bird distantly. With that rarity found I headed to the Green Valley wastewater facility and although the gates were still closed you could view a little of the area and I had at least one Lesser Nighthawk flying around. At this point it was starting to brighten a little more so I headed up to Madera Canyon which was my main destination for the day. I headed to the end of the road to take a hike up the Old Baldy Trail mainly looking for warblers and some new species for the year and I had success. Not long after starting the walk just before 6AM I heard a Coppery tailed Trogon (the first of three of these species on this trail). Trying to get looks at it (and the others) was frustrating. There were other new species for the year including Greater Pewee and Dusky capped Flycatcher. Warblers were also in evidence with the highlight for me being a male Hermit Warbler, another new addition to my big warbler year in the US and my 400th species in the US for the year. In addition to the Hermit Warbler I had five other species of warblers. After the hike I tried my luck at the Santa Rita Lodge for a bit and the hummingbird show was fun to see even with the strong winds there. I stayed about a half hour before heading down to walk some trails near the Whitehouse Picnic Area before a return to the lodge again. A brief stop at McCleary Wash turned up a few more species for the day. By this point it pushing eleven and I decided on trying the wastewater plant again before going home for a late lunch. Super windy there with clouds of dust visible to the north toward Tucson. A nice variety of waterfowl and a few shorebirds without any rarities among them. The rest of the day was spent at my lodging relaxing and planning the final full day. 

Lucy's Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Ash throated Flycatcher, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Wilson's Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Hepatic Tanager, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

 

Coppery tailed Trogon, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Hooded Oriole, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Painted Redstart, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Black throated Gray Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Inca Dove, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Northern Beardless Tyrannulet, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Nashville Warbler, Madera Canyon, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

Western Sandpipers, Green Valley WTP, Green Valley, AZ, Apr 14, 2026

On the last full day in Arizona I decided on a very early start in Madera Canyon to try for nocturnal species. The forecast called for much lighter winds than the previous two days so I was hopeful I would have some luck. My plan was to get there well before first light and hike up as far as I could on the Old Baldy Trail in the hopes of possibly getting an early Flammulated Owl or perhaps a Spotted Owl. I also would be listening for more expected species. I was out the door at around 3:15AM and immediately heard a Great Horned Owl hooting. I then made the roughly thirty minute drive up to the end of the road in Madera Canyon with a couple brief stops to take a quick listen which turned up an Elf Owl and some Mexican Whip Poor Wills. I started my walk up the Old Baldy Trail just before 4AM and was immediately greeted by multiple Mexican Whip Poor Wills and Whiskered Screech Owls. At about 1.2 miles up the steep trail I heard a Spotted Owl singing a few times and got a distant recording. I have never had this endangered species of owl before so was very happy to add a new life bird for the trip (species #2189). I walked a little further up as it started getting light before starting the journey back down. It was a productive walk down with lots of birds singing with one highlight being multiple Coppery tailed Trogons including one that actually briefly showed well. I made it down to the parking lot a bit after 7:30AM and then headed down to the Whitehouse Picnic Area to add more species for the day before taking a mid morning break at Santa Rita Lodge watching the feeders. My next stop was to head further down canyon to the Proctor Road area and this provided multiple new species for the trip thanks to a change in elevation and a corresponding change in species. Nothing too rare but some great looks at a variety of birds and butterflies. I finally left the canyon just after noon and made a brief stop at the Green Valley Wastewater Facility to add more species for the day. I ended the day with 93 species and easily could have broken a hundred with a little more effort. I was fairly beat by early afternoon so headed back to get a shower, pack for the trip home and take it easy. 

Overall for the Arizona portion of the trip I had 117 species with one life bird (Spotted Owl) and three new species for my Arizona list (the above mentioned owl, Wilson’s Phalarope and Spotted Sandpiper) bringing my state list there to 244 species.  Trip report from the Arizona potion of the trip here: Arizona trip report.

As far as totals for the entire trip from Texas to New Mexico and then Arizona I had 160 species with one life bird as mentioned above.  Entire trip report here: Texas, New Mexico and Arizona trip report.  In addition I found five new warbler species for the year in the US and more details on those can be found at the following link: Arizona warblers.