May 5th -

The fifth day of the month saw a return to cooler conditions accompanied by a stiff northerly breeze. While sunny and pleasant enough to be outside, it was still a chilly 37 deg F at dawn but did warm up to a comfortable 61 deg F by early evening. The Gill area saw notable arrivals of Ovenbirds, Wood Thrushes and Blue-winged Warblers this morning along with the discovery of a brand new site for Virginia Rail - I heard and saw a single individual giving 'grunt' calls in a suitable breeding area in mid-morning. It wasn't my most active day of local birding but a Black-throated Green Warbler was singing in our Northfield yard around noon, and in the evening migrant Yellow-rumped Warblers appeared to be plentiful around Gill Elementary School along with a couple of recently arrived Chimney Swifts and Baltimore Orioles. 

MA - first Blue-winged Warbler 05/06

Gill - After a very chilly morning, this afternoon became surprisingly warm, almost hot. A nice and rather unexpected bonus in our yard was a FOY Blue-winged Warbler which flew past me whilst I was trying to get better looks at one of the (now) resident Yellow Warblers. I wasn't too sure that it was a Blue-winged until it gave a burst of the classic 'beee-buzz' song. It then sang a quieter sub-song for the next ten minutes or so successfully eluding my attempts to get a picture. This was not our earliest Blue-winged Warbler though - back in 2011, we had this bird on May 1st;
http://pioneerbirding.blogspot.com/2011/05/ma-evening-grosbeak-0501.html

By way of follow-up to my earlier post concerning a Baltimore Oriole seemingly mimicking a Scott's Oriole song, well this evening I played a sound recording of Scott's Oriole and got an immediate response from the same indivdual Baltimore Oriole. It returned with typical song and calls of Baltimore Oriole. I didn't hear the Scott's Oriole song-type from this bird this evening but will attempt to get a sound recording if I hear it again.

Pictured below, a very approachable White-breasted Nuthatch at Giving Tree School, Gill on May 6th, 2013;



MA - local Blue-winged and Chestnut-sided Warblers

Some nice local songsters in the same patch of damp early successional habitat on our neighbor's property just up the road. Note quite yard birds, but not too far off either, easily being within comfortable walking distance of the house. 

Blue-winged Warbler - Gill, Franklin Co., MA. May 19th, 2012. 

Chestnut-sided Warbler - Gill, Franklin Co., MA. May 19th, 2012. 

Alder Flycatcher - Gill, Franklin Co., MA. May 19th, 2012. 

MA - yard Blue-winged - 05/30

Blue-winged Warbler - singing male, Gill yard, Franklin Co., MA. May 30th, 2011.

Blue-winged Warbler has long been a favorite wood-warbler of mine, so it's quite a treat to have this male holding territory, and very likely nesting, right in the yard. He was most vocal in the last few days of May and although song has subsided a little in June, recent behavior suggests that it might be paired and nesting in the Alder thicket lining the brook that runs through our yard. Hopefully, I'll have more to report on this later in June.

JPS