Spring Migration 2023 Part 2!

Week 2 of peak migration was amazing! I love the beautiful sights and sounds that surround us all now if we take the time to be present in the moment! If you look carefully, you can see warblers. They are tiny, colorful songbirds that are hard to photograph because they move constantly and hide in treetops. I spent 2 days in a new favorite spot-Skinner Mountain in Hadley, Mass. Ebird, and my go-to local expert-Larry Therrien reported lots of warblers there. You can check Larry’s blog dedicated to these amazing birds on my resource page. I saw my first Cerulean Warbler here! I heard its pretty song and spent 2 days trying to photograph it. You can see and hear him below. I also saw SO many Indigo Buntings. One pair of these beauties was working on a nest! I heard Worm-eating Warblers and saw one close-up, but he was camera shy. I also saw or heard Tennessee, Blackpoll, and Black-throated Blue Warblers. I also checked out Mitch’s Way nearby in Hadley but didn’t see anything new.

I went back to Stony Brook Wetlands in Ludlow yesterday. I got to see Blue-winged Warblers chasing each other around! I heard a Chestnut-sided Warbler and spent over an hour stalking this bird for a shot to no avail. You can at least hear him in the Stony Brook audio below. I saw a heard TONS of Common Yellowthroats, Ovenbirds, and Black and White Warblers in both places. But you can find warblers in or close to your own yards too! I have had lots of American Redstarts and Ovenbirds. A Northern Waterthrush has been visiting and it seems that my Louisianna Waterthrush is here to stay. I just heard and missed the shot of a Bay-breasted Warbler now as I was typing this! Yesterday, I was walking my grand puppy Rosie and heard a Prairie Warbler across from Soule Road School. Luckily, it was still there singing its heart out when I went back with my camera!

So, I did see other birds besides warblers LOL. I finally got a picture of the pretty Field Sparrow in Ludlow. I saw and heard Blue-headed Vireos, Red-eyed Vireos, and Warbling Vireos everywhere! I think I saw a rare Philadelphia Vireo, but waiting on confirmation as I am always learning. The Flycatchers are moving through our area on schedule. I saw or heard Eastern Phoebes, Eastern Wood-Peewees, and an Olive-sided, a Willow, and a couple Alder Flycatchers in Stony Brook and Skinner Park. Great Crested Flycatchers are everywhere, including my yard now, and their call is easily identified as you can hear below. I also a pretty Eastern Kingbird in the Ludlow Reservoir. I had Common Nighthawks flyover my house last night and this morning. I heard the elusive Black-billed Cuckoo in Skinner and Stony Brook. I waded through stuff no person should to get a shot, but it didn’t happen. I did record some cool audio for you though! You can hear a Veery or Wood Thrush wherever you go. I recorded their beautiful song for you.

There is not much time left to see many of the birds passing through now, so I am bird watching obsessively LOL-just ask my husband! Check out Cornell’s BirdCast to see which species are moving through our area. Check my blog from last week or my spring blogs from 2022 to see AND hear more spring migrants you can be watching for now. I still see 30 or so species in my yard in Wilbraham daily and close to 60 species in my local birding hotspots. You can check my eBird reports on my profile on Robin’s Nest page or find my link on my Contact Me page. The Merlin app can help you to ID birds-just double check the info yourself as apps make mistakes. I shared more sights and sounds of spring migration 2023 below. I would LOVE to hear about the birds YOU are seeing in the comments below. Follow my Facebook and other pages to see some neat videos too. Take care, Robin 😊