The last several days with lots of migrants including White eyed Vireo and Hooded Warbler

Blackpoll Warbler, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 8, 2019

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 8, 2019

Blue winged x Golden winged Warbler hybrid, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 8, 2019

American Redstart, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 8, 2019

Cape May Warbler, UMASS Amherst, MA, May 8, 2019

Rose breasted Grosbeak carrying nest material, Sweet Alice Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, May 8, 2019

Sunrise, UMASS Amherst, MA, May 8, 2019

Although there are still a couple days left in the second week of May with the current weather of rain and cold temperatures looking to continue and work commitment coming up I will take this raw afternoon to look at the week so far.  Lots of highlights which are covered in greater detail below.  The warblers have featured prominently with 27 species seen for the week...a more detailed look at warblers can be found at: Warblers in the second week of May

On Wednesday the 8th I spent the entire morning out and about with an early morning start at UMASS, which proved to be relatively quiet so I headed to the nearby rail trail instead.  The rail trail proved to be a great stop with lots of highlights.  I birded a bit with Sam first thing and we found a flock of 38 Pine Siskins and 14 Purple Finches.  After about an hour with Sam I parted ways and headed back to my car.  I was almost back to the parking lot but decided to take a short side trail and I came across a great warbler flock including a couple Cape May Warblers and my first Blackpoll Warblers of the year including one that came down low and gave me some of the best looks I have ever had of the species.  A total of 19 species of warblers including the ones mentioned above as well as a Blue winged Warbler hybrid that had some very unique facial markings.  I was able to text Devin and he got to partake in some of the warbler flock.  Once the flock moved on we decided to make one more stop before for the morning over to Sweet Alice Conservation Area where we found yet another apparent Blue winged Warbler hybrid as well a normal looking Blue winged Warbler that sang an odd one pitch song that sounded a lot like a Worm eating Warbler (link to video).

White eyed Vireo, Quabbin Park, MA, May 9, 2019

Blue headed Vireo, Quabbin Park, MA, May 9, 2019

Field Sparrow, Quabbin Park, MA, May 9, 2019

Bay breasted Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 9, 2019

Blue winged Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 9, 2019

Pine Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 9, 2019

Black and White Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 9, 2019

American Woodcock, Quabbin Park, MA, May 9, 2019

Northern Parula, Quabbin Park, MA, May 9, 2019

Common Yellowthroat, Quabbin Park, MA, May 9, 2019

On May 9th I spent most of the morning at Quabbin Park and found a total of 97 species (quite good for the date as most flycatchers are not back yet). Among the many highlights was a White eyed Vireo I stumbled across at the Winsor Memorial (one of five vireo species present). Unusual for the species it was totally silent so I was quite lucky to find it while checking out some movement in a bunch of brush!  Other notables around included four Eastern Whip Poor Wills, a family of American Woodcocks (with the adult giving a broken wing display to distract me), a flyby Evening Grosbeak and a total of 21 species of warblers.

 Wilson enjoying a walk, Belchertown, MA, May 9, 2019

Hooded Merganser eggs in nest box #2, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 9, 2019

After my time at Quabbin I spent some time taking the Wilson for a walk as well as checking on my nest boxes.

Cape May Warbler, UMASS, Amherst, MA, May 10, 2019

Wild Turkeys, Quabbin Park, MA, May 10, 2019

Ovenbird, Quabbin Park, MA, May 10, 2019

Hooded Merganser duckling, rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 10, 2019

The morning of the tenth I started off another cloudy day at UMASS (Stop #1 and Stop #2) where I had an impressive 20 species of warblers including at least ten(!) Cape May Warblers.  I would have stayed longer at UMASS but I decided to leave before the hordes descended on the campus for graduation.  I headed back east to Quabbin Park where I spent a couple hours and had lots of migrants and breeders on territory.  The highlight for me was finding the Blue winged Warbler hybrid that has returned for at least the third year (it has a golden wing patch instead of the typical white wingbars).  As I was finishing up my morning at Quabbin noticed an alert from Ted about a Hooded Warbler he found along the rail trail in Amherst. It was right along the closed portion of Station Road. I headed over and arrived at the location and could hear the bird singing. Unfortunately my arrival also corresponded with the arrival of a street sweeper (cleaning a closed portion of the road for some reason) and some heavy rain showers. The bird stopped singing and never sang again during the two hours I was there. Despite the continued absence of the Hooded Warbler there was an impressive feeding flock of warblers that included species like Bay breasted, Wilson’s, Tennessee, Palm and many others.  Also found a lone freshly fledged Hooded Merganser noisily moving along the side of the road...no sign of an adult or other ducklings anywhere nearby.  It was a fantastic warbler day with a total of 25 species even without finding a Canada Warbler or making a trip up to Skinner SP to get Cerulean and Worm eating Warbler.

Ruby crowned Kinglet, rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 11, 2019

Canada Warbler, rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 11, 2019

Blue Jays migrating, rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 11, 2019

Blue winged Warbler, Sweet Alice Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, May 11, 2019

Common Yellowthroat, Quabbin Park, MA, May 11, 2019

I took part in the annual Mass Audubon Bird-A-Thon on Friday evening through Late Saturday afternoon. I don’t usual put any added effort in beyond what I would normally do during this time of year beyond perhaps a little more effort on the Friday evening and this year was no different. The Friday evening stops around Quabbin produced the usual stuff plus a group of 16 Common Loons, a Horned Grebe and a Common Nighthawk at Winsor Dam. On Saturday I was up and out the door early to make a return visit to the rail trail in the hopes of catching up with the Hooded Warbler(s) again and hopefully get better views and some photos. I made it to the general area where it was last reported and found nothing. A check of a nearby area that looked promising found a male singing occasionally and calling a bit too. It stayed well hidden in the dense vegetation and never showed well. I did manage a few recordings but no photos.  Another great sighting was a Sora I flushed while walking across a very wet field.  Despite a lot of effort to relocate it all I managed to do was get very wet feet.  During the course of the 24 hours of Bird-A-Thon I found a total of 115 species.  I also managed to find my 200th species for Hampshire County on my earliest date ever on Friday evening when I saw a Common Nighthawk at Winsor Dam.  Below is a table of the earliest date from the last several years that I have reached the 200 species mark in the county.

Year                     Date to 200 species
2019                    May 10th
2018                    May 17th
2017                    Aug 1st
2016                    May 15th
2015                    May 15th
2014                    May 14th
2013                    May 18th

The last several days have featured an influx of southern species including two Summer Tanagers (one at Arcadia and another in Shelburne), two White eyed Vireos (the one I found and another in Franklin County), at least four Little Blue Herons (one at Lake Wallace and three flying by together along the rail trail in Amherst) plus at least one and possibly two Hooded Warblers along the rail trail as well as a Yellow breasted Chat at UMASS. Hopefully there are more of the above and perhaps other southern species out there just waiting to be found.

Green Heron, rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 12, 2019

Muskrat, rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 12, 2019

I made it out for a few hours today before the weather turned rainy and raw...some snow actually mixed in for a time early on!  Certainly not the weather I expect to have around here in the middle of May and it doesn't look to be changing soon as the next couple days are forecast to be overcast with occasional rain and well below normal temperatures.  My morning consisted of a stop at UMASS where I once again found multiple Cape May Warblers as well as a large flock (140+) of American Goldfinches plus a stop over to the Meadow Street fields to check on shorebirds where I had a Semipalmated Plover, 56 Least Sandpipers and a Lesser Yellowlegs.  With rain threatening I made a stop back to the rail trail in search of the Hooded Warbler once again but came up empty in that search but by the time I made it to the area the rain was already starting to fall.  I made a final stop for the morning over to Winsor Dam but it was quiet and very raw so I didn't stay too long....there was actually some snow that mixed in as I drove home!

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Home, Belchertown, MA, May 9, 2019

Blue Jays, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 9, 2019

The first group of Hooded Merganser chicks left the nest on Saturday morning and I was able to capture video of them leaving...link to video here.  The camera also captured video of a Black Bear and a couple of the Bobcat (#1, #2) as well as a Great Horned Owl.  On the rare sunny days a few species have stopped by the water feature but overall the activity there has been below average...I guess there is more than enough water available elsewhere!