Third week of May sightings

Cape May Warbler, UMASS, Amherst, MA, May 15, 2019

Blue winged x Golden winged Warbler hybrid, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 15, 2019

Black and White Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 15, 2019

Olive sided Flycatcher, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 15, 2019

Hooded Mergansers, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 15, 2019

I started the third week of the month at the rail trail where three hours of walking around produced a nice selection of migrants and resident birds then it was on to UMASS and then Quabbin Park.  I also picked up my first Olive sided Flycatcher of the season once I got home (I have found my yard to be the most reliable spot for the species in the county).

Bay breasted Warbler, Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, May 16, 2019

Worm eating Warbler, Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, May 16, 2019

Ovenbird with nesting material, Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, May 16, 2019

Red necked Grebes, Quabbin Park, MA, May 16, 2019

Blue winged x Golden winged Warbler hybrid, Quabbin Park, MA, May 16, 2019

Wilson's Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 16, 2019

Yellow Warbler, Belchertown Land Trust trail, Belchertown, MA, May 16, 2019

Gray Catbird, Belchertown Land Trust trail, Belchertown, MA, May 16, 2019

Last Thursday I hit a number of spots over the course of the morning including Mitch's Way, Skinner SP, Quabbin Park and land trust trail in Belchertown.  Lots of activity at all the stops with loads of warblers with a noticeable uptick in several species including Bay breasted and Tennessee Warblers. The most unexpected sighting for the morning turned out to be three Red necked Grebes cruising the boat cove at Quabbin Park.

Looking northwest from Goodnough Dike at dusk, Quabbin Park, MA, May 16, 2019

Thursday evening I joined a biologist from Quabbin for my first of two Eastern Whip Poor Will surveys. The conditions were perfect with clear skies and calm winds and the stops within Quabbin Park (the first six of ten stops for the survey) proved to be the most productive with at least one whip poor will heard at every stop.  I only detected one whip poor will outside the park this year but with lots of birds heard within the park the total number heard for the route totaled 16 (with 14 of those at one of the ten official stops...the others were heard between stops).

Dawn, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, May 17, 2019

Red Fox, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, May 17, 2019

Olive sided Flycatcher, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 17, 2019

Blackburnian Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 17, 2019

Migration conditions were not great overnight from Thursday into Friday so I took the opportunity to try my luck at finding the dowitcher in the the East Meadows that Joe found a few days before.  I made it there before dawn and found the dowitcher at the far end of a flooded section of farm field, hiding among the vegetation and old corn stalks.  I didn't want to flush the bird so I stayed quite a distance away and never got any photos.  My other stop for the morning was at the rail trail.  The sun finally came out in the afternoon and the yard produced lots of good stuff including another Olive sided Flycatcher and lots of warblers feasting in the oaks.

Worm eating Warbler, Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, May 18, 2019

Chestnut sided Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 18, 2019

Black throated Blue Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 18, 2019

Olive sided Flycatcher, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 18, 2019

Field Sparrow, Quabbin Park, MA, May 18, 2019

Barn Swallow, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 18, 2019

Common Nighthawk, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 18, 2019

On Saturday I decided to try my luck at topping my best ever total for warblers in a single in Hampshire County (my previous record, from last year, was 29). In order to try to break the record I would need to find all the regularly occurring species for mid May as well as a few unusual ones such as Hooded, Orange crowned, Mourning Warblers and maybe a late Palm Warbler and even perhaps something rarer. I started out predawn at Mitch's Way and then to nearby Skinner SP before going to the rail trail, then Quabbin Park and finally the land trust trail in Belchertown plus some time around the house.  Although I didn't break my record I finished the day with 27 species of warbler including my first Mourning Warbler of the season. 

Cape May Warbler, Amherst, MA, May 19, 2019

Bay breasted Warbler, Amherst, MA, May 19, 2019

Scarlet Tanager, Amherst, MA, May 19, 2019

Mourning Warbler, Amherst, MA, May 19, 2019

Great Blue Heron, rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 19, 2019

Hooded Mergansers, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 19, 2019

American Redstart, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 19, 2019

On Sunday the 19th the forecast called for rain showers at dawn so I didn’t get going until a little later but I woke up to find it sunny with no rain! I decided to hit some of the same areas I visited the day before with a new stop in Amherst to start the day. Yet again the warblers were around in great numbers but the nearly leafed out trees and increasing wind made tracking some of the individuals quite difficult. Nothing extremely unusual but I did catch up with another Mourning Warbler that sang quite a bit but proved very difficult to get views of, much less photos. Other notables included a Yellow bellied Flycatcher and Yellow billed Cuckoo along the rail trail.

Gray cheeked Thrush, Quabbin Park, MA, May 20, 2019

Gray cheeked Thrush, Quabbin Park, MA, May 20, 2019

American Redstart, Quabbin Park, MA, May 20, 2019

Red eyed Vireo, Quabbin Park, MA, May 20, 2019

Field Sparrow, Quabbin Park, MA, May 20, 2019

Blackpoll Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 20, 2019

Cape May Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 20, 2019

Great Crested Flycatcher, Quabbin Park, MA, May 20, 2019

Although it was a bit cool with a few showers moving through on Monday I decided that would be a good day to concentrate my efforts at Quabbin Park to see how many species I could get in a morning there.  Over the course of about 6 hours I found 105 species within the confines of the park with highlights including Yellow bellied Flycatcher (my third of the spring so far!), a Gray cheeked Thrush and 25 species of warblers.  The day eventually got sunny and warm with an almost summer like feel with temperatures near 80 with humidity.

Eastern Kingbird, Sweet Alice Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, May 21, 2019

Willow Flycatcher, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, May 21, 2019

Today unfortunately dawned cool and windy and stayed that way for most of the day.  On the upside it was sunny but trying to find birds was a bit difficult.  I started my morning at Arcadia covering the mosquito filled area of the old orchard and along the Mill River.  I don't normally bird that side of the river too much in the spring but a fairly convincing report of a possible Swainson's Warbler seen there a couple days before convinced me to give it a try.  As expected the bird was not found by myself or anyone else that looked for it after the initial discovery.  The report was from the 19th but the observer doesn't usually post sightings so he emailed a friend to post it to Massbird but that post didn't make it out to people until later in the day yesterday.  There is always the chance it is still around the area so people in the area should keep an eye and ear out for it.  Swainson's Warbler is an extremely rare species in the state with just a handful of records with only a few of those accepted by the Mass state records committee.  After a fruitless search at Arcadia and with the winds getting stronger I headed for home with a few short stops along the way that didn't produce anything too unusual.

Bay breasted Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 17, 2019

Mourning Dove and Gray Catbird, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 20, 2019

Magnolia Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 16, 2019

Baltimore Oriole, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 16, 2019

Hooded Merganser eggs, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 21, 2019

The yard has been as productive as ever with loads of stuff moving through including at least 21 species of warbler with the most notable being multiple Bay breasted Warblers on multiple days (I had at least six in view at once yesterday!).  It has been an incredible year for Bay breasted Warbler as well as for Cape May and Tennessee Warblers (I'll write a much more detailed post about that once spring migration ends).  Loads of other species moving through too with at least two different Olive sided Flycatchers among the more notable sightings (more on the flycatcher above).  The cameras continue to catch stuff but still waiting on the fledging of the second clutch of Hooded Mergansers (hopefully I get some video of them making the leap out of the box...stay tuned!).